Have you ever had a situation which completely changed the trajectory of your life? One day your minding your own business and bam, everything changes. It could be a phone call, a text or an unexpected visitor. These events can rock us and cause us to wonder how we’ll get through.
What you’re about to read is just such a situation. Though it’s about a particular man, this story is also about us in our hard, unexpected situations. The God sized problem this man faced sent him reeling. He was worried and fearful and he let God know it.
But God had a gift for this man which allowed him to proceed, step by step, with strength and courage. And God has the same gift for us today.
During the Christmas season, we acknowledge God’s story of redemption in the gift of His son Jesus, the promised Messiah. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:23 NKJV).
Isaiah foretold the event 700 years before. Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 NASB).
The birth of Jesus is one of the climaxes in God’s story of redemption. He was willing to allow the death of His own Son to reconcile our relationship with Him and save us from eternal separation.
Being with the Lord is our point. He is our source of true courage and overflowing joy.
In the shadow of Emmanuel, before Jesus was born, this man, experienced God’s “with-ness”. His name was Moses. While he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness near Mount Horeb [1], he turned aside at the sight of a brush fire. From within the burning bush, which was not being consumed, God called to him.
“Here I am,” Moses replied. [2]
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob commanded Moses to remove his sandals in the presence of His holiness. Then God told Moses He was aware of the sufferings of His people. [3] He always is.
He charged Moses, “Therefore come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10 NASB).
Moses would have shook in his sandals if he’d had them on. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11b NASB)
Moses felt far from adequate to accomplish what God was expecting of him. He thought God had chosen the wrong guy. Perhaps you can relate. But God makes no mistakes.
God didn’t back down, but gave Moses the most powerful gift possible. “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12b NKJV).
He is God Almighty, the Great I Am. [4] Whatever is needed, Eternal God always is that, for Moses and for us. He Himself is our peace, courage, hope and joy in any situation. The gift of God’s presence was meant to give Moses all the above and more. But Moses was still afraid and offered a flood of excuses. Perhaps you can relate.
God has a greater story going on in each of our lives. He wants more for us than just happy, comfortable circumstances. He’s conforming us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ.
I’ve been guilty of reading the familiar Romans 8:28 without understanding the good God is working for each of us. I didn’t notice how the next verse defines His purpose. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:28-29 NASB).
We’ve been predestined to become like Jesus. And part of the process of us becoming more like Jesus is learning to stop relying on ourselves and to trust more and more in God alone. This happens when, by the trials of life, we come face to face with our weaknesses and inabilities.
See what Paul wrote about his own experience with this very thing. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:8-9 NASB).
For Moses, going to Pharaoh and leading 600,000 men, excluding women and children out of Egypt was way beyond his abilities. And this is the point.
Though our journeys are hard, God is at work to free us from “needing” anything but God.
This is why James could write the following, very bizarre verses about the connection between joy and trials. Until I experiencing the process first hand, what he wrote made no sense at all. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4 NASB).
As we grow in our intimacy with the Triune God, He teaches us the sweetness of living our lives in singular devotion.
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple (Psalm 24:7 NASB).
Like Moses, we also live in the shadow of Emmanuel; not in the times before His birth, but in the times before His return.
Like Moses, God speaks to us now, but not from a burning bush. The Holy Spirit of God indwells us. For us, The Great I AM is closer than breathe.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the truth that, right now, You are certainly with me. You see me and all I’m facing. You’ve entrusted all these situations to me. They are no surprise to You.
I’m sorry for longing for a carefree life more than deeper intimacy with You.
I trust You and embrace Your workings in my life. I surrender all the people in my life Your care. Please, remind me often to pray. I believe You’re at work, even when I don’t see it.
I love you Lord.
Amen.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (II Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB).
In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us (Romans 8:18a J.B. Phillips)
[1] Exodus 3:1-3, Mount Horeb is referred to as the Mountain of God. Most agree that Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai, where Moses would later receive the ten commandments, are the same place.
[2] Exodus 3:4
[3] Exodus 3:6-7
[4] Exodus 3:14
Other Posts in our Rhythms of Joy Series:
Joy is Important Because it’s an Experience of God
The Amazing Connection Between Grace and Joy
Moving from Discouraged to Encouraged
Coming to Terms with Hard Things
Please Check out the Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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