When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

- Exodus 14:10-12

Some of us delight in a little anxiety-produced sarcasm.

God knew that this was going to happen. The people would provide massive amounts of pushback to his leadership. They would want to go back to Egypt. They would struggle to trust. How could they do anything else?

Remember that these people had been slaves all of their lives. Their parents and grandparents had been slaves. They had only known brutal, dictatorial leadership. They had to learn to trust that God and Moses really wanted what was best for them.

And it wasn’t easy.

The sound of horses and chariots cut through their memory of God’s faithfulness and their awareness of his presence.

This happens to us too. Bad news, layoffs, doctor-visits can all spin us into places where our faith is tested. Pain speaks louder than the promises.

We all have multiple voices speaking to us in times of pain and testing. Some voices point to the horses and chariots. Others point to the miracles and promises. Which voices we choose to make our primary reference points make a huge difference in our experience of these seasons of pain and testing.

Where are you tempted to hear the sound of the horses and chariots and forget the memory of God’s miracles and promises? How can you make God’s voice your primary voice today?