Exodus 32-33; Matthew 26:69-75, 27:1-14; Psalms 33:1-11; Proverbs 8:33-36

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’” (Exodus 32:1 NIV)

I remember last year I was speaking with my Spiritual Director and had been contemplating the plight of the Israelites. I remember I said to her, “You know, I used to always think the Israelites were so stupid to constantly doubt God, especially when they decided to make their own ‘golden calf’ god. But I’m starting to think I’m more like the Israelites than I care to admit.” I don’t remember the specific circumstance I was going through at the time, but I remember thinking, how many times am I going to freak out about this when God has handled it every time in the past?

We’ve touched on this before, but as humans, we’re made to forget. I recently read an article saying that every time you learn something new, your brain discards a fact that you haven’t needed in awhile. Well, how often when we are in the midst of uncertainty does our brain forget the many ways we’ve gone through the same situation successfully in the past? The Lord has been with you through 100% of your bad days, and yet, for some reason, we choose to believe that THIS is the day he’s not going to show up for us. So easily we disregard the past–it’s not our current reality, and it’s a lot easier to forget the ways we came through a situation than to remember the many ways we’ve been lead through it.

So I used to judge the Israelites on this exact thing, before the Lord pointed out to me that it’s easy to judge when you aren’t willing to ask yourself if you’ve done the exact same thing. When I realized that I am the same way, my perspective on these chapters changed. I still wonder how they moved to adopting an entirely new god in less than a chapter, but I understand how it’s easy to feel stuck in a situation and desperate to find your own solution out.

Today, I’d encourage you to ask God if you have a “golden calf” in your life. Is there a situation were you are trying to find your own fix rather than trusting God? Or, are you going through something where you think, not again. How can you trust the Lord to show up and be with you in that sitation?

May we be a people that remember the way our God has shown up for us. And let us never forget to seek Him first in each and every present moment of life.