Every Saint's Life Verse

“Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.” (Ex 15:13 AV)

This should be the life verse of every believer!  There really is nothing more that can be said.  We can murmur and complain all we want, but the truth of the matter is, God is a merciful God.  The truth of the matter is, God has provided for His faithful their entire lives.  The truth of the matter is, God has and never will forsake His people.  He will guide them as long as they follow.  If there have been adverse circumstances of life wherein it seemed as those God was not with us, it was more than likely due to the fact we were not following at the time.  God is faithful.  Period.  The older I get, the more I realize the truth of the verse above.

The context here is the crossing of the Red Sea.  The Holy habitation was Canaan.  The guiding was the was the ten plagues and destruction of the Egyptian army.  They still had a wilderness wander ahead.  But they were free from the bondage of a cruel task master.  God was not their guide and protector.  God was now their provider.  They compromised 430 years prior and it resulted in the enslavement of ten generations.  But the LORD was still with them.  They survived.  Now, it was God who would provide for them food in the wilderness and an eventual home wherein they could labor for their own sustenance.

As mentioned before, the older I get, the more I realize the depth of the truth stated in our verse.  We may have had some difficult years.  Last year was probably one of the most challenging.  Beginning with the passing of my dear mother, the year also included the possibility of my wife being diagnosed with cancer, the departing of my son and his family to Brazil, the resignation from a church family which I had grown to immensely love, and moving to an entirely new culture to name a few. Add on top of that a adversary who was threatening me with serious trouble, and I had just about all I could take.   One might suggest that if God is a good God, then why all that trouble?  This is life.  This is what happens in life.  The trouble is not an indication of the lack of God’s mercy.  Getting through it is.  God had just rescued Israel from Egypt.  God would teach them again the same lesson at the waters of Marah.  God is merciful.  He will take care of and guide those who trust and will follow.  All the way to heaven!