Introduction: Read Exodus15v22to27.

Within just three days the euphoria of the Israelites over their deliverance from Pharaoh turned to grumbling as they ran out of water in the desert of Shur. This illustrates how rapidly our circumstances can change - from literally one day to the next. Nobody, including the Israelites, finds it easy to cope with sudden and disastrous misfortune.

(1) The Israelites were tried to the limits.

(a) A basic need was denied them. The Israelites could not function long without water in the desert. It is not difficult to imagine their desperate plight. The cattle were lowing, the sheep bleating, children crying and adults flagging.

Thirst is not an imagined or frivolous need. One commentator likened his longing for a bigger house in a better neighbourhood to the Israelites desire for water. It was something he needed to be happy! There are a lot of people like this. They think they need a promotion, a new car, the latest computer or a large screen TV to be happy. For goodness sake! The Israelites needed water to survive - without it they would be dead in days.

There is no craving quite like thirst except, perhaps, hunger. But none the less there are intense longings which, if they go unsatisfied, cause great unhappiness. Such longings include the desire for:

• Relief from pain.

• Good health for a loved one suffering a debilitating illness.

• A husband or a wife.

• A child.

• Sexual gratification.

• Affection. Little babies in orphanages do not thrive unless picked up and cuddled.

• Acceptance and approval. One of the saddest things I heard in a long time was my own brother saying that he did not feel his father approved of him as a boy. So he volunteered for jobs - like gardening - in the hope of winning his approval. However, he never thought his father warmed to him as he did his other three sons.

  Rejection is desperately sad and many long to be accepted and loved by their parents, their peers at school and their fellow Christians.

(b) The bitter disappointment. Water was discovered. We can imagine how spirits rose at the news and how the people and their flocks and herds pressed forward to slake their raging thirst with the waters of Marah. How cruelly their hopes were dashed. The water, the lovely water, was bitter and undrinkable. This was very, very hard to take.

Disappointed hopes are one of the hardest things to cope with. For example:

• Someone's cancer is in remission but then it returns again - twice as virulent.

  I had a friend with cancer of the colon and liver. She had chemotherapy and two major operations. Throughout this trying time she was aware of God's presence and experienced great peace. But after the final operation on her liver she experienced a lot of pain and began to swell up like a balloon. My friend thought all the operations had gone well and she had survived the last of them. She was not prepared for this latest setback. Satan got in and she lost her peace. Ros railed against God. That is what disappointment does to people. I am glad to report that a build up of fluid is quite common when part of the liver is removed. It was not serious and my friend is going strong.

• A new treatment for a long term illness appears to work - but then the symptoms return. This was the experience of the woman who touched the hem of Christ's garment. She had spent all her money on a long line of physicians. The woman had tried all their cures - only to be disappointed over and over again. As a last resort she turned to Jesus! He remains the physician of last resort for many!

• A woman who has been trying hard to get pregnant succeeds only to lose her baby to a miscarriage. What a devastating blow this is!

• A Christian man has prayed to God over many years for a wife. He has tried everything including dating agencies. Finally he is sure that he has found, 'the one'. But she, the light of his life, his dream girl, plays the field and finds someone she likes better. What a terrible disappointment!

• It must have been hard for the fugitive David who although he twice spared King Saul's life was never accepted back at the court. On the second occasion David showed mercy Saul said: "May you be blessed, my son David; you will do great things and surely triumph." 1Sam26v25. But then we read: David went on his way, and Saul returned home. David remained a fugitive.

  It is very difficult when we demonstrate our worth and still lack acceptance, recognition and approval. Jesus wept bitter tears over Jerusalem because although he would have gathered the inhabitants under his wing like a mother hen her chicks they WOULD NOT. He was despised and rejected of men.

(2) The reaction of the Israelites.

Desperate for water and sorely disappointed at Marah the people looked for someone to blame - and picked on Moses - a convenient scapegoat. Moses was leading the way. He had led them into the desert of Shur and failed to find water.

The Israelites could have adopted a different strategy. They could have asked Moses to consult God or prayed to God collectively for water to drink. It is true that on this occasion the Hebrews didn't blame God - they just forgot about him. This was a sign of great immaturity. They failed to appreciate that God was leading them - not Moses.

Many people today do blame God when things go wrong or when they suffer some great disappointment. This is true when a Christian has prayed earnestly for:

• A loved one to be healed and they suffer and die.

• A helpmeet only to be left on the shelf.

• A child without success.

There are some very immature Christians who become disillusioned when they enter a dry spell. Nothing refreshes them spiritually. Such people thirst for excitement and the arousal of their emotions. They blame the pastor or the church they attend for their desert experience. What is their solution? They try another church and another pastor!

(3) The reaction of Moses. Moses cried to the Lord.

(a) Moses could, perhaps, have consulted the LORD earlier. Was Moses trusting in his knowledge of the desert and this one in particular with which he may have been familiar from his days as a shepherd? We are specifically told that Moses led the Israelites into the desert of Shur.

There is a tendency to go on in our own strength for as long as we can. It would be wiser to consult God BEFORE we get desperate. The disciples caught up in a storm while crossing Lake Galilee only woke Jesus, who was asleep in the boat, when they looked like drowning.

(b) Moses cried to the LORD because he had no one else to turn to! God was Moses' last best hope.

In the gospels there were those for whom Jesus was their last best hope. This was true of the disciples caught up in a ferocious storm on Galilee. It was true of the woman who had spent all she had on physician's fees without getting better. She just managed to touch the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed. It was true of one dying thief. Who else could he turn to as he hung upon his cross but Jesus, mankind's only Saviour. Who else could promise him, "Today, you will be with me in paradise."

There is absolutely no doubt that people whose lives are empty, who thirst for living water, who have tried this world's empty cisterns, who have nowhere else to turn, and who finally cry out to Jesus are never disappointed.

(c) Moses had faith in God. He cried out to the LORD. v25. By doing this before all the people he made it quite clear to the complaining Israelites in whom he placed his trust. Moses of necessity took a risk - the risk of being ignored or turned down. If this happened his credibility would be seriously compromised.

The gospel preacher proclaims Christ in faith - believing that he is the answer to man's deepest needs. He does so from a shared experience with Horatius Bonar:

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one lay down
Thy head upon My breast,
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad,
I found in him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.

(4) God's response. The LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and the water became sweet.

In this instance God performed a marvellous miracle. The problem was easily solved! I think we are justified in asking what can sweeten the bitter waters of disappointed hopes in the modern era. God rarely performs miracles for our benefit today.

The passage provides us with a clue as to what can sweeten our bitter waters of disappointment. God made the Israelites a promise that if they listened to him and obeyed him he would not inflict on them what he inflicted on the Egyptians but rather he would heal them.

The promises of God can sweeten the bitter waters of experience. David must have been disappointed when God turned down his offer to build a temple to replace the tabernacle. But God softened the blow with a great promise: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall be established for ever." 2Sam7v16.

I love the episode in Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress when Christian and Hopeful strayed into By-path Meadow and got apprehended by Giant Despair. They ended up in the dungeon of Doubting Castle where they were beaten by the giant's crab-tree cudgel. Eventually Christian realised he had a little key in his bosom that would open any lock in Doubting Castle - a little key called Promise. Sure enough the pilgrims were able to escape and get back to the King's highway and safety.

I know a woman who tried unsuccessfully for many years to find a husband. It put her faith in God to the test. She was saved from despair by the promise of Jesus: "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." Mt7v11.

I sometimes feel disappointed at my lack of acceptance and recognition as a Bible teacher and preacher. I speak to such very small numbers of elderly Christians. My experience is sweetened by the promise inherent in the Parable of the Talents that if we make the best use of limited opportunities a day will come when the Master will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant." Mt25v14to30.

In one of his books F.W. Boreham remembered a time during his boyhood that his parents were in a very dark place. His mother and father had one of those calendars which provided a new Bible text for each month. The day arrived when his mother turned from one month to the next. The new text was: Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 1Sam7v12. There is a promise implicit in this text. It acted like the piece of wood that sweetened the bitter waters of Marah. The gloom in the Boreham home lifted and sun shone again.

(5) The refreshing oasis.

The life of God's people is not all about frustrated desires and disappointed hopes. There are oases of refreshment and pleasantness. At Elim there were twelve springs and 70 palm trees to provide sweet water, shade and even some dates.

In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress Christian faced many ordeals but he also enjoyed his stay in the Interpreter's house, in the lodge of Prudence, Piety and Charity and upon the Delectable Mountains.

God ordained a day of rest in the week and for many through the years this has been a weekly oasis of blessing. Even the slaves on the plantations of the Deep South of the U.S.A. had this day for worship. The Israelites also had their feasts and festivals to relieve the monotony of life.

Christians need their Elim's. It may be a holiday with other believers. The Keswick Convention has been an Elim for thousands of Christians. Some of my friends used to go on a bus tour organised by Pastor N. Rule. They always returned refreshed and uplifted by the time of Christian fellowship.

The year my father died my Uncle David invited me to spend a week with him and my aunty Hazel in Exmouth, Devonshire. I was worn out after caring for my invalid father for 4 years and a very difficult four months teaching on a temporary contract in Haverhill. I had a wonderful holiday with my uncle - who put himself out to walk with me every day. In the evenings Hazel cooked for us and my cousins visited. It was an Elim experience and one I remain thankful to my uncle, my aunt and my God for.