And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. Exodus 14:31.
The voices of the people rang out over the waters of the Red Sea in glorious triumph.
But soon their faith was tested. The Lord would know how much He could depend on His people to be true and loyal to Him. They went three days’ journey into the wilderness and found no water. “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.” ... “The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” Instead of trusting and fearing the Lord, believing in Him under apparently discouraging circumstances, they cast reflections upon their leader.
So people act in this generation. Satan's plan of temptation is always the same. While everything moves prosperously, people think that they have faith. But when suffering, disaster, or disappointment comes, they lose heart. A faith that is dependent on circumstances or surroundings, that lives only when everything goes smoothly, is not a genuine faith.
In his trouble Moses cried to the Lord. This is what the children of Israel, so recently delivered, ought to have done. The Lord heard the cry of His servant, against whom the people had said so many bitter things. He showed Moses a tree, “which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.” It was not the virtue of the tree that turned the bitter water to sweet; it was the power of Him who was enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, the One who can do all things....
Did the people then appreciate and acknowledge God's blessings? Were their hearts filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to Him? Did they have a praise service, as when they stood on the banks of the Red Sea? We have no evidence that their faith was strengthened by God's mercy and grace and love toward them....
When trial comes to prove us, when we cannot see an increase of prosperity and comfort before us, but a probable lessening of these things, when there is a pressure necessitating sacrifice on the part of all, how shall we receive Satan's insinuations that we are going to have a hard time, that everything is going to pieces, that there is sore trouble ahead of us? ... We ought to gather up the fragments of heaven's blessings and tokens for good, saying, Lord, I believe in Thee, in Thy servants, and in Thy work. I will trust in Thee.—Letter 49a, 1896.
From Christ Triumphant - Page 107
Christ Triumphant