Step by step

Exodus 17:1

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

Journeying by stages

Learning along the way

all the lessons

they did not even know

they needed.

Resisting at every turn

Longing for the safe and the familiar

- even the slavery and oppression

preferable over a changed landscape.

The effort of changing mindsets

of adapting to a new culture

deemed too difficult

too demanding

requiring more energy

than they were prepared to expend.

And so the wilderness stretched on

for generations

until there was the will

to embrace the Unknown

and to follow

the way of God

and God's faithfulness 

for every generation.