QT 3/13/2026 Exo 15:1-21, Allowing yourself to rejoice

Exodus 15:1–21 (ESV) —

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

. . .

19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

 

NOTE: This has been a great victory, secured by God for the people. I left out 17 verses, each of which tells other parts of the story. And yet, after this unbelievable sight and amazing period of time, Israel will begin to complain and grumble, and accuse God of bringing them into the desert to die.

 

I'm pretty familiar with spiritual mountaintops and spiritual valleys in life. At one point in my life, I avoided getting excited by good news or answered prayers (spiritual mountaintops) because I was afraid of the "other shoe falling" (an American idiom for the bad news following good news). So my strategy was to keep my emotions flat to avoid being hurt, because I hated disappointment so much. At some point, I realized that is not how God intended us to live life. God gave us emotions, they are not bad. So, I forced myself to rejoice and hope in good news, and to mourn if bad news followed. I decided I was not going to stop living (experiencing emotion) just to avoid some of the pain.

 

I'm glad Israel rejoiced so much in their new found freedom. But, I wish that they could have trusted God more when things were not as good, just like I needed to trust God more.

 

PONDER:

1. Do I trust God only when things are going the way I expect it?
2. Do I even think about God when life is good?
3. Do I only cry out to God when my plans are upset with circumstances beyond my control?

 

PRAYER: Father, this is a complex thing -- trusting you in the everyday of life. I don't do a good job. Help me to keep my eyes open to how you are working in my life, especially in the unexpected and unusual, as well as the normal.