Exodus 17:3-4
And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

Our needs and our lacks can make us desperate.  When we feel our lives are at stake or our health or our family, we can start to panic.  Those tough situations that arise can have us questioning everything, maybe get us thinking that we did the wrong thing or ended up where we shouldn’t have been.  We may lash out if we can find someone to blame, or maybe we even blame God for bringing us somewhere to face some hardship we don’t understand.  The children of Israel had gotten to that place, and their lack of water, their thirst, their desperation for that most basic need almost led them to do something regrettable.

But we have to trust God, especially when we are empty and we don’t have what we need.  Especially when we get to those desperate places, we must not panic, but instead look to the Lord.  We can’t just give up on the journey, but we must seek God and trust His provision.  He has promised to go with us.  He has promised to lead and provide.  And so when that first trial comes, we can’t be so ready to give up in despair.  We can keep going and move forward even if it seems like a hopeless situation.

It’s when we try to take matters into our own hands that we can make our worst mistakes.  It’s when we take our eyes off of God and His plan and His leading that we can go so far astray.  And when we allow what is happening to us to overwhelm us so completely, we may find ourselves deaf to His Word and blind to all that He is doing around us.  We forget His promises and forsake His ways.

A steadfast faith in God is what can enable us to respond properly in even the most desperate situations.  When we are tempted to fall into despair and react in the flesh, His Spirit can calm our hearts and reassure us of His presence.  He reminds us of His Word and His faithfulness and assures that we can trust Him with even that most impossible situation.  And when we let go of our doubts and our fear and reach for Him, He will give us everything we need.