Is the Lord with us or not?

"In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?' ….'Is the Lord in our midst or not?'" (Exodus 17: 3-7)

Why did the Lord allow the people to be very thirsty without providing them water? God was testing them. The desert experience was essentially a period of training and testing for the people. But at Massah and Meribah, the people turned the table and tested God. If God was genuinely with them, he would surely have provided them with water. We too tend to equate God's presence in our lives with his gifts. If I have everything I need here and now, it means that God is with me. But when I experience delays, disappointments and obstacles, I ask: "Is the Lord with me or not?" The message of Exodus 17: 3-7 is that God is always with his people in thick or thin.