Here is this week’s children’s lesson, from Exodus 15:

Bitter water made sweet, God teaches His children

Exodus 15:22-27

After God brought His people Israel through the Red Sea safely, they worshiped Him, singing with joy. They sang praise to Him for His greatness. They sang praise to Him for the greatness of all He had done to save them. This was a good attitude. We should also sing and praise God for Who He is. And we should also sing and praise God for what He has done for us.

When we begin to walk with God, God wants to teach us to continue always trusting Him to take care of us. That’s what God wanted to do for the Israelites, too. The way He teaches us to trust Him involves letting us face problems only He can solve. That’s what He let happen to the people of Israel. As they walked in the wilderness, they ran out of water to drink. And at first, they couldn’t find any.

That’s a real problem, isn’t it? Water to drink is a need for every one of us. If we didn’t have it, it wouldn’t take long to get us to pray for it. That’s how it is when we need God’s help. We learn to pray. The Jews needed water to drink, and didn’t have it. Three days passed, and when they finally found a source of water, it was bitter. It was undrinkable. And the people did what we probably would, too. They complained. “What are we going to drink?” they asked Moses, grumbling.

Moses did the right thing. He cried out to God. When things are difficult, there are two options of what to do. One: Cry out against God. Or Two: Cry out TO God, for help. Moses picked the right option. He cried out to God for help. And God did a miracle to help all His people. Yahweh the Lord showed Moses a log. And when Moses threw the log into the water, it instantly turned the water from bitter to sweet. It was perfect water for them all to drink.

Then God made the people a promise. He said, “If you will diligently listen to The Lord your God, do what He says is right, obey His commandments, and keep His laws, then this is what I will do for you: I will protect you from all the diseases I put on the Egyptians, because I am Your healer.”

Then God brought them to a place called Elim. It was beautiful. It had twelve springs of fresh water. That’s one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. It also had 70 palm trees to shade them from the sun. The people camped there, resting comfortably in God’s presence. Their time of slavery was over. And they could live in God’s presence, and have peace.

This is how God wants to provide for us, too. When we become His children by faith in Christ, we learn to take each problem to Him. When we trust Him, He helps us, and takes care of our needs, as we obey Him.