"And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them"
Exodus 15:23-25
This is one of the lesser-known miracles of Moses... in fact, it was so lesser-known that I didn't know about it until today... although I've read through Genesis before. I guess I just never picked up on this one. The children of Israel have just been saved from the Egyptians by going through the sea on dry ground, and the Egyptians were all drowned. After that though, they go three days into the wilderness and there isn't any water to drink. They're understandably thirsty, and perhaps less understandably, upset with Moses. True, they had to pick up and leave their lives of slavery, and they are out of their comfort zones... but how many miracles have they seen recently? They go back and forth: "we're saved!" and then "we're doomed!" :) And, truthfully, I think a lot of us do that in our lives as well. After seeing all of those miracles, and being saved so many times by God, you would think that the Israelites (and us) would find some faith... would start believing, from all the evidence, that God was watching out for them (and us).
I've been working in my life on trying to stay calm, no matter what happens... like President Hinckley. I don't think that it is possible to rile him. :) So, I think it would be cool to be like that, even if someone cuts me off in traffic, and even if someone is trying to push my buttons intentionally... and this is a big part of that. Trusting that God will always be there, and that things will work out the way they are supposed to. Not to say always the way I *want* them to... but the way they should. Then I can start looking for the lesson instead of complaining. :) Anyway, thought this was an interesting scripture today in that regard. I also wonder if there is a certain kind of tree... bark, or whatever, that purifies water. Anyone know?