Today's readings from the Chronological Plan are Exodus 1-2:25; 1 Chronicles 6:1-3; Exodus 3-4:17. Click here to read online.
There is so much in these verses that could be pointed out, or talked about, but these are all pretty well known and easily understood. Therefore, I am going to go with the SOAP approach today.
Scripture~ "And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11
Observation~ Moses instantly dwells on the thought of how hard the task asked of him is. He doesn't even hear all the details before he questions God about His request. He's already asking why God wants him to do it, and who is he, that God would have him to do this. Then he questions how and why and comes up with every excuse he can think of, for why it won't work(4:1), and why he shouldn't be the one to do it(4:10). In verse 14 we see that God gets angry with Moses, and brings in Aaron to assist Moses in this great task that will come to be.
Application~ It is so easy for us to question our abilities and try to think through how situations are going to work or not work. But when God asks things of us, we need to trust and obey. We don't hear God audibly, so yes, we do need to pray about things and make sure they are God's will, but when we know He is calling us to do something, we need to trust who He is, and the power that He has, and just do it. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called...so that He will get the honor and the glory.
When my oldest son was getting close to school age, my husband and I had to come to a final decision on what we were going to do about his education. Were we going to put him in public school, or were we going to homeschool? (We had never heard of homeschooling before, and didn't know the slightest thing about it. We were very ignorant to just how much is out there to make sure homeschooled children get exceedingly wonderful educations.) This question arose again and again even after we had been homeschooling him for quite sometime. Every time things got hard, I would question my abilities and try to reason everything out over the next 12 years. What if I don't do a good enough job? What if colleges won't accept him? Am I smart enough to do this? What do other people think about what we are doing? I remember looking at my husband one day when I was almost in tears over the frustration of making this "all so important decision" and telling him, "if I knew the world was going to end and Jesus would take us home before he needed to go to college or support a family, I would homeschool him without any question." I wanted to see the future so I could make an informed decision. We even put him in public school for 2 or 3 months when he was in second grade, and then something happened.
God spoke to me so clearly, you would have thought it was audible. He said, trust in me, follow My will, and take it one day at a time. Don't look to the future, look to Me...just keep your eyes on Me. Don't question your abilities, because my strength is perfect in your weakness. I will give you ALL you stand in need of to do My will. I took my son out of school that day and we've never looked back. When times get tough, we look to God and work through them because there is no alternative anymore. Now we have 3 out of our 4 children homeschooling, and the littlest one can't wait to get started next. I am amazed every day at how good of a teacher I am (WITH THE LORD'S HELP...I fail miserably if I'm not teaching behind His leadership), and how much my children thrive in the environment they are in. Every day that I get to teach them, and instruct them in a safe, loving home with Godly values along side their needed education, I just thank God for not letting me ruin what we have. God has since blessed me with many resources for homeschooling that make the future look a lot brighter. As well as many people around us who were homeschooled and now have successful carriers, and are homeschooling their own children.
God doesn't give us our life's story book to read before we live it. Honestly, I don't think we could handle it anyway. We just have to deny ourselves and let God lead. We shouldn't be asking Him, Who am I...to teach that Sunday School class? ...to witness to my neighbors?...to move to a new city? ...to lead a bible study? ...to have another child? We shouldn't be listing our imperfections to Him either as Moses did in verse 10 of chapter 4. Look at God's response again... "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?" Exodous 4:11 God made us, He knows what we are and are not capable of. He will not ask of us something we cannot already do, or something He won't give us the ability to do. How blessed we can be, and how blessed others can be through us, if we will just obey.
Prayer~ Father, I thank you and praise you for all that you are, and all that you do. I pray that you would speak to me and let me know what your will is for me. Open my heart Lord, and show me the things you would have me to be doing in my life. For those things you've already asked of me Lord, I surrender them to you. Please give me the strength I need to trust in you and to do that which you have asked of me. Provide me with all that I stand in need of, to do your will and stay in the path that you have laid for my life. Forgive me for questioning you and not fully obeying. May all that I do give you honor and praise, in Jesus name, Amen.
Tomorrow's readings are Exodus 4:18-7:13
9 comments:
Great thoughts, Kristi. I find that often something seems like it's too big, too much, too hard and so we don't even want to start. My sister and I didn't get along well at all when we were growing up. I'm a take-it-as-it-comes kind of person and she's a plan-everything-in-advance kind of person. I would get an assignment in school and just start somewhere and go from there. She would get an assignment and look at the whole thing and cry about how big the assignment was, how hard it was going to be, how long it was going to take her, and how she wouldn't be able to get it PERFECT. But in the end, she would get it done (early) and get a great mark (straight-A student) and wonder why she'd been so worked up about it in the first place.
We don't really know what we're capable of until a situation arises where we need more than we thought we had within us - and God is faithful. He will always give us the resources we need to follow His will. I hope I can remember that in the future when I'm wondering why He's asking me to do something I don't really want to do!
I can really relate to your journey. We were called to pull our eldest out over a weekend when she was in kindergarten. I had the exact same fears but I knew we were being called. She did not go back that Monday.
God shocked me even more when he called us back in (different school) five years later. It was almost more drastic with there being three of them. I had great fears about the future and how they would turn out. He gave us one confirmation after another that this was His will and my husband led us.
God calls us for things that grow our faith in him and not ourselves or others even. It's leap every time but always brings joy.
I've since learned that he can call at any time for anything and I have to be willing to obey either way, holding all things with an open hand to Him.
On the passage though, I thought it was just funny and I don't know why it has never struck me as funny before when God tells Moses to throw down his staff and then it says "it became a snake, and he ran from it". Yeah! I would too!
Oh,and then, he tells him to reach out and take it by the tail! That had to take some faith and yet still he struggled with his capabilities. It's amazing how patient God is with us. We always say that seeing is believing but after all this and his arm turning leprous and healed within a few moments, I don't think it is true. Stepping out in faith is always harder than it sounds.
I don't think that seeing is always believing either. I think the best proof of that is shown in Jesus' lifetime. All those people who got to see signs and wonders and miracles, and that didn't cause any more of them to believe than the amount of people who believe only by faith today.
so true!
I think the signs, wonders and miracles DID make many people believe. Not all, obviously, but many. Specifically, the raising of Lazarus from the dead is said in so many words to have brought many people to believe in Jesus.
John 12:10-11 - So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
THat is very true too. I think the impression from the text to me was more for the one all ready believeing. These people (Moses included) saw God do SO many amazing things, right here we have a burning bush not consumed, a rod to a snake, and a arm diseased and healed all within a few minutes and yet, Moses doublts God's ability to use him. We think we would have great faith if we saw some of these things that people did in the bible, I've thought that anyway but the fact is, our faith grown and given to us by God through exercising it rather than anything else. Building faith in God seems to only come to us when we step out and see Him keep work in us.
I do agree, the miracles and signs and many other special gifts of the Spirit were crutial to the spreading and the impact of the gospel.
I wasn't saying that seeing signs and miricles didn't cause people to believe, I was just saying that it didn't make everyone believe. That seeing isn't always believing. There are more people that believed by faith, than those who believed from seeing His power with their own eyes!
Just starting to get caught up here!
Some excellent thoughts here ladies.
It is so hard to trust God when we feel like we are being called to do something we don't think we can do - but you know, that's often exactly why he calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things - so that the glory will go to Him alone!
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