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Learning to trust
Jeff WeinkaufGenesis 3:16-22
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.[c] 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
God has a plan. He has a complete understanding of all the dynamics of the journey He asks of Moses. He knows it's going to be difficult, and even took time explain to Moses in vs 19 that the king wont let them go unless He intervenes. On top of that God even promises favor as part of the plan (vs 21-22). It's a complete plan, with both obligation and and blessing guaranteed. Still, Moses has doubts.
God had been actively involved in Moses life from the time he was a baby. His hand was clearly on Moses as He protected and directed his life. For Moses though, the time of the burning bush was the beginning of his understanding of relationship with God. God speaks, and I am allowed and even invited to respond. This is new ground to him, and as we go on to read in Ch 4 Moses is full of questions and concerns.
I think I can relate to how Moses might have been feeling.
Looking at ourselves sometimes, we can have a hard time seeing past who we think we are, to who God has made us to be. With his help we are limitless and "fully funded" but then we look in the mirror or think back to a "fail" and we get tentative. I'm reminded of Gideon who was hiding out when God's angel came to him and said "hail mighty warrior". In that moment Gideon was certainly not acting like a mighty warrior. Still, God understands who we really are in Him. It's not that I'm awesome, it's that I'm fully backed and resourced by our awesome God.
In time Moses learned to take God at His word. He practiced saying "yes Lord" over and over. I/we need to learn to do the same. To take God at his word even when the yes tests us. If we will do this, we can learn what Moses learned. God plan is complete, lacking in nothing.
God, I want to trust you more. I want my trust you with the things I don't trust you with now. Help me to hear your voice clearly and to say "yes Lord". Amen
