Does God Owe Us Blessing?

As I was thinking through a verse in Exodus 15 a strange thought came to my mind.  I wondered why the Israelites had complained to Moses and God about the waters at Marah being bitter.  After all, the word Marah means bitter.  So why would the people of God get upset that the waters at Marah (bitter) were bitter?  They apparently knew that the place was called Marah.  Moses grazed his father-in-law's sheep in this area, surely he or some of those with him knew of this spot and that the water here was unsuitable to drink. I wondered why they would be upset.

At first it seemed to me that the Israelites had simply not yet learned to trust God completely.  Surely not too much time had passed since God turned the water in Egypt to blood.  The Israelites knew God could do that, no problem.  And it was just three days ago that He did the impossible and pushed back the waters on either side so the Israelites could walk on dry ground.  But this was a small body of water in the middle of the desert!  There was no need for God to part these waters.  The Israelites had experienced God doing some pretty amazing stuff with water, but not turning salty water fresh.  This would be a whole new miracle they hadn't seen and because they hadn't seen it they questioned whether or not He could do it.

But maybe there's even something more to this then just a new miracle.  If they knew the place was called Marah and that the water was bitter and they STILL complained that may mean that they were already beginning to think they were something special.  And because they were special they expected God to make the water sweet just because of who they were!  Because God had rescued them from Egypt and delivered them from Pharaoh's army through the water they assumed He was just going to do everything for them.  Make their lives a bed of roses.  So they didn't even ask Him to change the water, they just assumed He would!

Some believers today live like this.  They expect that just because they go to church, put a few dollars in the tray or "believe" that all their hopes and dreams will come true that God is just walking in front of them organizing the events and circumstances of their life to be just the way they want so they never have to suffer.  They expect that God owes them somehow.  And there are quite a few preachers who foster this belief, though maybe not intentionally, by telling us over and over how special we are to God and how His greatest desire is to show His love to us by meeting our needs and fulfilling our lives with all the wonderful things we can imagine.

But have ever heard or talked to a believer from a third-world country?  Hungry.  Persecuted.  Broke.  Without hope for a better tomorrow.  But with a hope in eternity that will not die and a thirst for more of God that can not be quenched.  We sometimes whine to God because we ONLY have 1/4 tank of gas in the car.  They walk for days just to share or to hear the Word of God.  We get upset if we have to chose which bill to pay the cable tv or the heating bill.  They sleep on the dirt floor with no heat or entertainment and read their bibles for hours at a time.

Paul had every terrible thing happen to him you could think of and he considered himself blessed.  So before I complain to God because He didn't do something I expected Him to do I think I'll remember the Israelites and the bitter water.  And I'll thank God for putting me in a position to see His glory.