First Mennonite Church
February 8, 2026
Prayer Opens Our Eyes to See God’s Solutions
Text: Exodus 15:22-27
Today and in the next two Sundays, we will be considering critical moments in the life of the People of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land. Therefore, we will reflect on how Israel lived during the Exodus. The exodus is Israel’s great liberation story. Israel’s exodus story is more than just their liberation from the Egyptian slavery. It also includes God’s call to Moses, God’s judgement upon Pharaoh and Egypt, the Passover meal, the forty-year journey, the giving of the Law and the constitution of children of Israel as God’s people, and every interaction between Israel and Moses and of God, Moses and Israel.
Beyond that, the Exodus story has also become the motif, the pattern through which we can understand the journey of our salvation in Christ Jesus. If Moses was called by God do lead his people Israel free from bondage, God sent his Son to free us from the bondage of sin. Just as Israel was confronted with challenges during its liberation journey, so we are in our faith journeys. But just as God intervened in Israel’s moments of crisis, doubt, and disobedience, God also wants to intervene and teach us as we are confronted with challenges and failures in our Christian walk. And just as Israel was led to a land that flows with milk and honey, the Lord is leading us to his kingdom.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there are many references to the Exodus experience. Psalms 77 and 78 are some examples of that. The prophet Jeremiah also speaks powerfully about God call for obedience since the day he liberated Israel from their oppressors (7:21 ff.)
Shortly after Israel left Egypt, the Egyptian Pharaoh and his army set off to retake them. At that point Israel had arrived at the Red Sea and had nowhere to escape from being recaptured. The Israelites were terrified and began to complain against Moses. “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? (Exodus 14:11, 12). But you know what God did. He opened the Red Sea and Israel crossed on dry land before the Egyptians got to them. And once safe from the danger of being recaptured, Moses and Israel sang praises to Yahweh for his mighty salvation. Miriam, the sister of Moses, led the women in singing and dancing with timbrels in hand:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
Walking on dry ground across the Red Sea was Israel first experience of God’s mighty presence with them on their journey. This significant event is mentioned in the book of Psalms and also mentioned by the prophets Nehemiah and Isaiah. It is not surprising, therefore, that having experienced God’s power deliverance firsthand prompted Israel to give heart-felt praise to God. They gave praises to God not out of obligation nor was it lip-service, but out of true gratitude and awe. However, only three days later, it seemed, they all forgot about God’s mighty power to solve their needs.
Exodus 15:22-27 tells us of another of Israel’s crisis. They had walked for three days from the shores of the Red Sea into the desert and for those three days Israel could not find water. The people were thirsty and desperate to have a drink, but no water could be found for three days. Then they arrived at Marah. This was either a spring or a body of water, but the water was bitter and non-potable. Everyone was thirsty, including Moses. The animals were thirsty. The children were the first at risk of dehydration. The situation was very serious. But the people, instead of remembering what happened just a few days before, began to complain against Moses. “What are we to drink?” they all were asking Moses.
It was not an easy situation. It was not an imagined or hypothetical situation. It was a real and serious situation. That is how troubles are. They are real with real consequences if they are not solved. When someone is ill, it can lead to more serious problems if not treated. If money is not enough to pay the bills, there is a lot at risk. You can have your services discontinued, your credit report will get a hit, you begin to get behind on other things, and you begin to lose your peace of mind and even your heath can get affected.
There by Marah, the people knew they could not drink the water because it was bitter and their complaint went directly to Moses. They set their eyes on someone before their eyes. That is the normal thing to do. When we realize something has gone wrong, we set out to find what or who is causing it. When the car wont start, we want it diagnosed. When there is problem at home or in the church, we look around to figure out who or what is causing the problem. And that was what the people of Israel did.
But in the middle of that serious problem and with all the complaint coming against him, Moses knew where to look up for answer. Moses cried out to the Lord. Moses prayed fervently to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, says the text. Would that be a shrub, a branch, or indeed a who tree? We are not sure. It says a tree. God showed Moses a tree, whether it was there before or not but Moses knew this was God solution to the people’s problem. He threw it in the water and it became potable.
After that Israel moved to an idyllic place, based on the description of it.
Bringing our needs to God in prayer opens our eyes to see God’s solutions to our problems. When we obey God to trust in him our eyes get open to see what we have not been able to see before. It was until Abraham obeyed God to offer Isaac that he got to see a ram caught by its horns in the tickets. It was until Hagar raised her desperate voice to God that her eyes were open to see a well to give water to Ishmael. It was until the man with leprosy obeyed Jesus to go show himself to the priest that he realized he had been healed. It was until we were led to do something last December for the children and their families that we got to see how God provided abundantly. And, so it was with Moses. It was until he prayed to God that God showed him the solution to the problem of bitter water.
Let me close with the words of the apostle Paul to the Philippians: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen!
Pastor Romero