The Bitter Waters of Marah
“And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter…” Ex. 15:23
Many would think that after the children of Israel had seen the mighty works that God did in Egypt and the great deliverance at the Red Sea that their faith had to be absolute in God. How do you lose faith in a God that has done miracles for you? Truly, human nature is the same everywhere, and how quickly we can forget the great and wonderful things God has done in our lives and allow the bitterness of our situation to overwhelm us…
In early August 2011, I noticed a small rash Steven had on his belly and arm. Being as he had spent a great deal of time playing in the field at church I thought it was poison ivy. I began treating him with calamine lotion. It would help the itch for a little while, but it kept coming back and seemed to be spreading. I took Steven to the doctor near the end of August because the rash was driving him crazy. The doctor looked him over and said he had scarlet fever. I told the doctor that he hadn’t had a fever, nor shown any signs of illness or a cold (We’ve dealt with scarlet fever before). She said she was certain it was scarlet fever and gave me some antibiotics for Steve. I asked her how long he’d be contagious and she said three days. That was a blessing because we were leaving in five days to go stay with a friend in Connecticut.
As the days went on Steve’s rash got worse and worse. He seemed to be scratching all the time, and his skin was starting to get raw. It was becoming so difficult to give him a shower because the soap burned him where he scratched himself raw. He legs and underwear area were the worst affected. Steven began waking up several times in the middle of night screaming in frustration because of the itch. I hated to be so far from home and our doctor. A few days later I had the opportunity to give Steven a bath at a pastor’s house. I bought some gentle oatmeal soap that I thought would soothe his skin. He was excited about taking his first bath in weeks! As soon as he stepped in the water he shrieked a blood curdling scream and said “it’s burning me, it’s burning me”. The water was cool and I hadn’t put any soap in it yet. My stomach turned as I saw how raw his skin was all over. His skin wasn’t smooth anymore, but rough and scabbed. I thought if I washed him with the oatmeal soap it would ease the itch and burn, but he just cried and screamed loader. I began to cry as I realized something was very, very wrong. I finished bathing him quickly and got him out of the tub and just sat with him wrapped in a towel on my lap and cried with him till he settled down. I prayed and asked God to help him. It hurt so much to see Stevie like this. When he calmed down I dressed him and went out to the living room where Chad and the pastor were anxiously waiting for us to come out and tell them what happened. When thy asked me, I cried and told them something was wrong with Steven. I showed them his back and stomach and legs. The pastor said that the ER would not be able to help with a rash, but said maybe I could take him to his daughters’ holistic doctor. He called her and they got Steve an appointment for the very next morning.
The next morning we went to this doctor and she told us Steven had Scabies, a parasite that is also known as ‘sand fleas’. She gave me some tea tree oil and told me to give him two baths a day with it, and also to give him two doses of it, in yogurt or fruit juice ,a day. I prayed and asked God to please make bath tubs available for us at our next meetings in Maine, MA, and RI. We followed the instructions very specifically. God made provision and at each church that we went to, they had a bath tub or over-sized sink where I could bath Steven. The medicine seemed to be helping very little. It did relieve the itch enough for him to sleep through the night (Praise the Lord), but during the day he was constantly scratching. When I would clip his nails short, he would find something to scratch with. I didn’t think his skin would ever be soft again.
During all this, Hurricane Irene had come through the area and brought with it 2 weeks of nonstop rain. We found all the leaks in the RV! The water was just pouring in and there were sheets of mold on our windows , ceiling and walls every morning. I thought perhaps Steven was having an allergic reaction to the mold and maybe it wasn’t a parasite at all. Every day I had to clean the mold off the walls, ceiling and windows. I hadn’t seen the sun in days; my little boy was miserable and I couldn’t help him; and the rest of us were developing similar rashes on our stomachs and arms.
I became overwhelmed with our circumstances and just collapsed in our RV and starting sobbing, “God I can’t do this! Steven is sick and we’re living in black mold. Please help us? Why won’t you heal Steven, he’s in so much pain and I can’t do anything to help him. Please, please help us”
Chad came in and found me in the bedroom. He wrapped his arms me and said, “It’s going to be ok”. I asked, “How do you know? How do you know Steven is going to be ok, he might have some horrible disease?” Satan put his magnifying glass on my situation, and stole my peace. My trust in God was replaced with fear, and Satan had me firmly in his grasp as I let the discouragement take root.
Chad hugged me so tight and just prayed and asked God to give us strength. He begged God to help our faith not to waver, but to keep trusting Him. He asked God to help us to endure the bitterness of the circumstances until he provided what we needed. I knew that he was right and asked God to forgive me for despairing and losing faith in Him. I knew that God was in control and could trust Steven in His care.
The next day the sun came out. It was so wonderful to see the sun again after two weeks. We opened up the RV and aired it out. It had gotten so mildewy and stuffy in there. I pulled out all the mattresses and cushions and aired them out. When I took off the covers to air them out we found they were saturated in black mold. We went to the store and bought mold killer and plastic mattress covers. The Pastor we were with let us stay in his home for a few days to get away from the mold. I scrubbed the RV with bleach that day. There was mold everywhere. We sprayed all the cushions and mattresses with mold killer and left them out in the sun for several hours. I treated each cushion and mattress three times. We threw out all the clothes, books and toys that had mold on them. It took all day, but at the end of the day we had scrubbed the RV top to bottom and treated all our cushions and mattresses. We washed the covers several times then put plastic covers on the matresses.
The day after we started traveling again, it would be another three weeks before we returned to MD. Steven improved very little over that time, but we were thankful that at least he was able to sleep through the night without waking up in agony.
I already had an appointment for Steven scheduled for the day after we got home. I took him to the doctor and told her all that had happened. She said he did have scabies and gave us enough cream to treat our whole family. She said all of us but Steve should be fine the next day. Steven would require two treatments, but she said in three days his itch would be almost completely gone. She said I needed to buy Steven an oatmeal lotion and lather him up daily for several weeks to help his skin return to normal. We also had to treat our RV because we most likely had an infestation in our RV. The treatment involved washing everything fabric in the RV we could: our entire wardrobe, all blankets, sheets, stuffed animals, pillows, etc. Everything that could go in a washing machine needed to be washed. We spent over $100 and several hours at the laundry mat. We also had to fumigate the entire RV.
But praise God, the day following, our itch was gone. Steven’s rash was considerably better. After the second treatment his itch was almost completely gone and by the third day he was back to normal. It did take several weeks for his skin to completely heal and become soft again, but his misery was over! God had provided relief, He gave us what we needed, and with it a stronger resolve for our calling because we didn’t quit when it got hard.
Though at times we feel utterly forsaken by God, He is always there. He hurts when we hurt, and though He could instantly deliver us from our trial, He sees great value in the lesson we are learning. Sometimes there is bitterness in our circumstances and we despair, but we must find strength in knowing that God is in control and He WILL give us what we need in His time.
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