By Wangari Murathe

“Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” Exodus 15:27

Are going through hardship and troubles? Take heart and trust on the Lord for your deliverance. Depend on the Lord and your cry in the night will be transformed to joy in the morning. It happened for the children of Israel, Naomi and Ruth, and for Paul and Barnabas.

After three days traveling through the desert without finding water, the children of Israel came to the waters of Mara. But they could not drink the water because it was bitter. After much complaining and grumbling on their part, Moses cried out to God. God showed Him a peace of wood that he threw into the water making it sweet. (This healing of bitter waters symbolizes the Lord the Healer’s or Jehovah Rapha’s deliverance from our spiritual and physical needs, if we trust and obey Him) Thereafter they came to Elim, a place of sweet waters and shade. There they camped and rested.

Naomi accompanied her husband and sons to a far away land to escape famine. The sojourn brought so much bitterness to her soul after her husband and sons died that she said, “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Ruth 1:20.

But the seeds of God’s purpose and her joy followed her. She got a daughter in law Ruth who “loved her more than seven sons” Ruth 4:15. She got her land back through, Boaz the kinsman –redeemer. And she also got a grandson Obed, who would sustain her in her old age.

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas preached effectively and boldly at Iconium. Even though many believed, they had to run for their lives after strong personalities threatened to have them mistreated and stoned. They fled to Lystra where despite miraculous healing of a cripple, they were misunderstood and plotted against. Paul was stoned and left for dead. (Who knows the surpassingly great revelations he was shown during this time? 2 Corinthians 12:7). However God healed him and they were able to proceed to Derbe where there is no record of their persecution. God was giving them rest.

If we pray and trust in the Lord, He will heal us and provide for us. He will give us deliverance and rest.  There will be an Elim after a Mara. So keep strong in the faith.