Is God Among Us? Finding Life in the Wilderness

Sep 26, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Rocks Cry Out and Thirsty Hearts Ask

The wilderness strips away illusions of self-sufficiency. Like the Hebrews facing cracked lips and barren horizons, we confront moments when survival seems impossible. Desperation births raw questions: Why here? Why now? Does God see this? The story insists our most basic needs—water, hope, belonging—are not trivial to the One who shaped deserts and human hearts. Even rocks become witnesses when God answers. [40:58]

The people thirsted for water, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”… And the Lord said to Moses… “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” (Exodus 17:3–6, ESV)

Reflection: When has your “wilderness moment” made you whisper, “Is God with me?” How might this story reframe your thirst as an invitation rather than a crisis?

Day 2: Striking Rocks and Expecting Springs

A staff strikes dead stone. Water erupts. The miracle isn’t just provision—it’s pedagogy. God trains eyes to see life where logic insists only death remains. The rock at Massah becomes a monument to divine irony: what appears inert holds hidden rivers. Our “rocks” today—dead-end jobs, broken relationships, silent prayers—may yet gush with unexpected grace when struck by faith’s persistence. [37:21]

He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (Psalm 78:15–16, ESV)

Reflection: What “rock” in your life feels lifeless? How might you approach it differently, knowing God specializes in hidden springs?

Day 3: Grumbling as an Act of Faith

Moses hears complaints; God hears prayers. The Hebrews’ outcry, though framed as doubt, becomes the catalyst for miracle. To voice hunger for God’s presence—even through tears—is not rebellion but raw liturgy. Like a child’s midnight cry for a parent, our laments assume relationship. God responds not to eloquence but to the ache beneath the anger. [42:56]

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord… I meditate and my spirit faints. You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. (Psalm 77:1–4, ESV)

Reflection: When have your complaints unintentionally become prayers? How does God’s response to the Hebrews soften your view of holy frustration?

Day 4: Naming Our Massah Moments

Moses memorializes the miracle as “Testing” and “Quarreling.” Yet the water still flows. We too label our struggles: “Betrayal,” “Loss,” “Failure.” But what if we add a subtitle: “Where God Showed Up”? The place of argument becomes the site of provision. Our stories gain power when we name both the wound and the well. [39:32]

And [Moses] called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7, ESV)

Reflection: What current struggle needs renaming? How might acknowledging both pain and provision reshape your narrative?

Day 5: Emmanuel’s Answer in Every Wilderness

The question “Is God with us?” finds its fullest answer not in water from stone, but in Word made flesh. Jesus—God With Us—enters our deserts, bearing the scars of divine solidarity. The rock at Massah points forward to the pierced side of Christ, where living water flows for all who thirst. Our wildernesses now echo with a name: Emmanuel. [46:43]

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:23, ESV)

Reflection: How does Jesus’ presence transform your view of current struggles? Where might you invite Emmanuel to strike new springs today?

Sermon Summary

Exodus 17 brings Israel once again into the wilderness, where freedom itself has become a great challenge. God has brought enslaved people out of Egypt through signs and wonders, through the sea, through manna and quail, and yet the dry wilderness now presses one question beneath every other question: “Is God among us or not?” The question is not merely ancient. The question rises in long illness, grief, fear, disrupted plans, loneliness, and all those places where tomorrow looks like nothing but rocks and sand.

The wilderness exposes human frailty. Thirst brings Israel face to face with the fact that life cannot continue long without water. The people complain, argue, and fear that they have been led out into the desert to die. Moses hears their cries as a challenge to his leadership and names the place Massah and Meribah, places of testing and quarrel. Moses cannot seem to forget the grumbling.

God, however, does not react as Moses reacts. God does not rebuke hungry, frightened people for begging for what they need. God does not say, “Look at all I have done for you.” God gives Moses the staff, directs him to the rock at Horeb, and brings water out of something dead, dry, and hard. The water flowing from the rock gives God’s answer: life can come where death appears to have the final word.

The rock becomes more than a means of survival. God is forming a lively people, a holy nation, out of death-dealing slavery and wilderness despair. God can bring hope and life out of places that seem entirely hopeless. The question, “Is God with us or not?” receives an answer not through an argument but through water gushing from a rock.

The complaint of Israel also receives a surprising interpretation. God sees their complaint as a call to loving action. Questioning is not forbidden territory for faith. Deep faith can complain precisely because faith knows that God is good and because present circumstances do not match what faith knows about God. The prophets complained. Faith can say, “Lord, show me some of your glory,” and place an impossible situation back into God’s hands.

Christians remember that a new Moses has come to lead people from slavery to freedom through the waters of baptism. Jesus bears the name Emmanuel, God with us. The ancient question therefore remains honest, but it does not remain unanswered. God is with those who ask their questions and strike their rocks.

Key Takeaways

1. The deepest question is God’s presence The wilderness question sits beneath many other questions about pain, change, loss, and fear. A person can endure an awful lot when they know they are not alone. Israel’s thirst gives honest words to the fear that God may have disappeared. [33:14]
2. God hears desperate complaints with mercy Moses is aggravated by Israel’s grumbling, but God is not. God does not shame the people for needing water or demand that they first become more grateful. Their cry becomes a call to loving action, and God provides what preserves life. [40:03]
3. Faith can dare to complain Complaining is not always unbelief. Sometimes complaint rises from a deep conviction that God is good, faithful, and able to act differently than present circumstances suggest. Faith brings its protest to God because faith still expects God to be God. [43:31]
4. Water can flow from hard places The rock looks dead, dry, and incapable of giving anything. God brings sweet water from that hard place and shows that life is not limited by what appears possible. God still meets people at the rocks they cannot break open by themselves. [37:21]
5. Emmanuel answers the wilderness question Jesus, the new Moses, leads people from slavery into freedom through baptismal waters. His name, Emmanuel, means God with us. The question may still be asked in suffering, but Christ gives the church reason to keep asking it with hope.

## [46:16]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[23:07] - Learning to Ask Good Questions
[30:21] - Why Israel Tells the Exodus Story
[31:21] - Freedom in the Wilderness
[33:01] - Is God Among Us or Not?
[35:43] - Israel Faces Deadly Thirst
[37:21] - Water From the Rock
[38:33] - Moses Names Massah and Meribah
[40:03] - God Responds With Mercy
[41:25] - It Is Okay to Question
[43:31] - It Takes Faith to Complain
[44:49] - Inviting God to Be God
[46:16] - Emmanuel, God With Us

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Exodus 17:1-7
“All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, 'Give us water to drink.' And Moses said to them, 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?' But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, 'Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' So Moses cried to the Lord, 'What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.' And the Lord said to Moses, 'Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.' And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?” [33:14]

Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us).” [46:48]

Exodus 16:1-36
“They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, 'Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.' Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.' So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, 'At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?' And Moses said, 'When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.' Then Moses said to Aaron, 'Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.'' And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, 'I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'' In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'' And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, 'Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.' But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'' So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, 'Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.' On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, 'How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day. Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'' And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.' As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” [31:36]

Observation questions

What crisis leads Israel to quarrel with Moses and ask whether the Lord is among them?
What does Moses do after the people cry out, and what specific instructions does God give him at Horeb? [39:00]
What names does Moses give the place, and what do those names remember about Israel’s response there? [39:18]
How does God’s response to Israel’s need differ from Moses’ response to their complaints? [40:03]

Interpretation questions

Why might Israel’s lack of water make the question, “Is God among us or not?” deeper than a question about physical survival? [36:40]
What does God providing water from a hard, dry rock reveal about God’s power to bring life out of places that appear hopeless? [37:48]
Moses appears to hear Israel’s complaint as a challenge to his leadership, while God responds by meeting their need. What does this contrast suggest about the way fearful complaints should be heard in a faith community? [38:33]
How can complaint sometimes be an expression of faith rather than simply unbelief—especially when a person’s circumstances do not seem to fit with what they believe about God’s goodness? [44:25]

Application questions

What “wilderness” are you facing right now—such as grief, illness, uncertainty, loneliness, change, or fear—that raises the question of whether God is with you? What would it look like to bring that question honestly to God? [33:47]
When have you looked back and recognized that God met you in a way you could not have provided for yourself? How might remembering that moment strengthen you in a present hardship? [46:16]
Is there a complaint, disappointment, or unanswered prayer that you have been reluctant to say aloud to God? What might change if you brought it to God as an honest prayer instead of trying to hide it? [42:13]
Where do you see a “hard rock” in your life—a situation that feels closed, lifeless, or beyond your ability to change? What hope does God’s provision at Horeb offer as you face it? [37:21]
When someone in the group, church, or family is frightened and complaining, are you more likely to respond like Moses with irritation or like God with mercy? What is one practical way you could listen more patiently and respond with loving action? [42:49]
Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.” How does this name of Jesus speak into a particular fear or uncertainty you expect to face this week? [46:35]

Sermon Clips

66s

#FaithInTheQuestions

“It takes faith to complain. I'm gonna say that again. It takes faith to complain. Sometimes our complaining and our questions are based upon our deep faith that God is good, that God really does work with us and for us, and that the situation we're in doesn't match up with what we know about God. And now another observation about that basic question. Perhaps when we complain and we raise questions about God being with us, we are inviting God to go ahead and be God. We are saying in effect, Lord, show me some of your glory. I know that you love me, and on the basis of that knowledge, I would love to turn this impossible situation in my life over to you. Lord, once again, surprise me with what you are able to do.”

47s

#GodWithUs

“We read the story of how God was with the freed Hebrew slaves. We think back on those occasions in our own lives when God showed up and stood with us and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Here is the God given answer to our question. Is God with us or not? In our tradition, there came a new Moses, one sent to lead us from slavery to freedom through the waters of baptism. And do you remember his name? Emmanuel, Jesus, God with us. So ask your questions. Strike your rock. God is with you.”

40s

#MiraclesInTheWilderness

“Spoiler alert here. In just a few verses, Moses is told to take his staff and strike a rock, a dead, dry, hard rock. And out of the rock, there comes sweet tasting water. God has once again provided a way where they thought there was no way. What a great symbol. After all, what is more lifeless than a rock? hard, but surprise, water comes gushing from the rock. There is life where there was nothing but death.”

44s

#GodHearsOurPrayers

“here is something interesting, and it's important. Though Moses seems aggravated by the outcry of the people, God does not. God does not rebuke the Hebrews for begging for water. God doesn't lecture them saying, look at all I've done for you. You ought to be grateful for what you have. Now it's water you want. No. That's not at all what God says. Here is what God does. God instructs Moses to strike the rock. Water gushes forth.”

32s

#GraceInOurComplaints

“God does not rebuke the Hebrews for asking. You have brought us all the way out to the desert to die. Are you really with us or not? immediately responds with a plan and with the miraculous gift of water from a rock. Their quarreling was not punished by God. Rather, a loving God saw their complaint as a call to loving action.”

54s

#FaithOverFear

“You can endure almost any pain, any unknown or fearful prospect looming before you if you know that you do not have to go through it alone, if you have a faith that God or your own understanding of God is with you, we can face the uncertainty of the coming weeks if we know we are not alone. Imagine for a moment being one of the Hebrews, standing out there in the wilderness, looking out across dry and deadly desert, wondering what tomorrow will bring. Nothing but rocks and sand.”

58s

#BiblicalQuestions

“This Sunday's scripture actually gives answer to most of those questions. And yet, behind the scripture is a much more fundamental question. It is the question that is asked at the very end of today's scripture lesson from the exodus. Here's the question. Is God among us or not? This is a question which is not simply an interesting question, but it is the question. In my sermon today, I'm counting on this question being your question. I don't know that you've ever put this fundamental question exactly in this way. Is god among us or not?”

37s

#HopeFromHardship

“God is bringing a lively people, a new holy nation out of death and death dealing enslavement. God can bring hope and life where it seems all is hopeless. Meanwhile, good grief, thinks Moses. How dare the Israelites ask the question, is God with us or not? After all they had been through, after all the many signs and wonders that God has performed on their behalf, how dare they still ask if God is really with them?”

52s

#QuestioningFaith

“These observations are about our questioning. First, it's okay to question. All two and three year olds may now breathe a sigh of relief. It's okay to ask why. Actually, we are even encouraged to use discernment to question. Moses seems deeply annoyed by these complaints and questions of the people, but God doesn't seem to be troubled about their complaints. Perhaps God knows that they are in a life and death situation, and their fear, complaining, and outpries are to be expected.”

46s

#SpiritualThirst

“If you have ever been without water for more than a couple days, and and I have not. K? But if you ever have, then perhaps you can sense something of the desperation of the Hebrews. To be dying of thirst is to be brought face to face with the fragility of our existence. We are frail, vulnerable creatures, and deep thirst reminds us of that. Then and there, faced with the reality of no water, they ask that fundamental question. Is God among us or not?”

43s

#HonestPrayer

“So go ahead. Question. Go ahead and complain and grumble if you want to. God will not desert you because of it. As many of you know, I have many Jewish friends. And one of the things I admire about many of those friends is that they are so secure in their conviction that God loves them and that God will preserve their people that they are able to complain. I actually think this must be one of those traditions handed down from the prophets to complain, that is. After all, there are many stories of prophets coming to God with complaints.”

48s

#WhenLifeHurts

“But think of how you felt when you or a loved one were struggling with a long illness that kept you out of work or confined for many weeks or how you feel right now in a similar situation in this COVID crisis or when you lost someone you deeply cared about. Try to remember your state of mind when you you tried to have a child. You had prayed for a child. You had waited long to start a family, but you had not received the gift for which you had prayed. What was your question beneath all of the other questions you were asking?”

39s

#FindingBelonging

“How did you feel when you were forced to move halfway across the country to a new community, leaving friends and family? I bet you wondered if people would receive you well in the new place. Would you find some friends? Would there be a good school or a good church to go to? What I'm saying is that beneath many of these questions was that fundamental, ancient, thoroughly biblical and theological question. Is god among us or not?”

34s

#GodProvides

“God had brought them to freedom from slavery. God had parted the sea so that they could escape the chariots of the pharaoh. Then God had given the miraculous bread, manna, and quailed to eat. But now now they had run out of water. And you know that humans, well, I guess really any animals, can live longer without food than we can live without water.”

60s

#WildernessJourney

“So here we are once again with the Hebrews on the exodus. Through a series of signs and wonders, God has freed the Hebrew slaves from the horrors of Egyptian slavery. Those who thought they had no hope of freedom have been given freedom. unexpectedly, they are finding freedom to be a great challenge. one thing, a vast desert wilderness stretches out before them. What are these hundreds of people going to do to survive out in the wilderness? Here were people who were oppressed back in Egypt, denied any advantages. How in the world are they even going to organize themselves so that they and their children can survive the charity ahead?”

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