12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Here the Israelites are on their way out of Egypt. They have been delivered from the plagues that have destroyed and ended the livelihood of Egypt for the year. The crops have been destroyed. The animals have been culled by the hail. And finally the firstborn of every creature and family have died. And the Israelites have been spared. They have asked the Egyptians for their gold and silver, and the Egyptians have freely given it to them. They go from a state of being a slave to that of a wealthy free person. And one of the first things they do is to complain. There are always those in a crowd who will look on the negative side of issues. No matter how good things are going they will see the half-empty glass. They will say they are the realist. They don’t believe in being a dreamer. They have their feet planted firmly on the ground. I am a pretty ‘firm-ground’ person. I have so many dreams and ideas floating in my head that if I started following them I would never get anything accomplished. So I like being on the ground, solid and firm. I used to just follow my dreams and I would end up flapping in the breeze. So I can understand how these folks feel. But there is something to be said for those who are willing to look at the facts. We need people who bring us down to earth occasionally. But in the lives of the Israelites at this moment in history, when the Lord is doing such a great thing, this is not the time for skepticism. To be skeptical at that moment was to ignore the obvious moving of God. Everyone, even the Egyptians recognized the Lord’s hand. Even some of the Egyptians had joined in the Israelites in their exodus. Today, are you ignoring the moving of the Lord in your life or the life of another?
The Arnold Journey 