Digging in My Heels

The Israelites groaned under the hard labor and God heard their cry and remembered them. Not that He had forgotten them. But the time had come to move them from Egypt to the Promised Land. I wonder if they had not been groaning under the oppression, would they have heard God’s call to move? What would entice them to leave Egypt and go and fight the “giants” and claim the land God had promised them?

We see the story unfold and know the ending of the story and forget sometimes how many years it took for God to get the right people in the right place ready to obey. And we forget how hard it was for the people to move away from everything they knew and were comfortable with. They complained in the wilderness, but as I think about it, I am pretty sure I would complain too. They left the comfort of their homes and after God defeated the Egyptians by closing the Red Sea over them, the Israelites shouted with joy! And then the journey began in earnest. They found themselves camping in the desert wilderness, longing for the comfort of their homes. They forgot the slavery part – the expectations by slave masters and the beating when they didn’t meet those expectations. All they could think of was the comfort of their homes and the food they had to eat. And when they faced the possibility of having to confront giants in the land they were being led to, they buckled and dug their heals in and mutinied.

And I wonder, would I have done any better? As I look back over my life, I can see where God has led me. Many of the transitions were hard and painful. I felt like I was in the wilderness wondering if I would ever come out again. I had to face some giants. And I wonder if I ever would have left my comfort if there would have been a choice.  What did God have to do to get me to go to the “promised land” He had for me. Just as He needed to teach the Israelites to trust Him and go even when it wasn’t comfortable, He has needed to teach me to trust Him and be willing to go even when it doesn’t feel comfortable. Maybe if I paid attention to His still, small voice, I wouldn’t need the loud, “GO! NOW!”

That’s the big things. But what about all the little decisions I make daily. Am I willing to hear God’s voice – His nudgings? Or do I need for a bigger, louder voice because I am not tuned in to His channel? When He is nudging me to spend more time with Him, do I make time? Or do I say, “I am too busy. I have so much to do,” and then He has to lay me down in a sick bed or ice me in for a day or two in order to show me that my agenda is not Lord of my life?

Change is usually hard. We all seek comfort and shy away from discomfort. Yet, it is through discomfort that we become more teachable and are more likely to hear God’s voice. By reframing the hard things in my life as part of the journey to the promised land, I can become more content with my circumstances rather than fighting them. I can watch for ways God is working and align myself better with Him. I am free to serve wherever He sends me and I can experience joy because even if I don’t know where I am headed, I know the One who leads the way.

Thank you, Lord, for your patience in leading me even when I dig my heels in. You are so determined to get me safely to the promised land and I want to go willingly and with joy, whatever the circumstances along the way. Amen.

What is that Word ‘Wait’?

We live in a world that is instant everything! We drum our fingers, sigh and explode if the file we are downloading takes more than 2 seconds. Food is acquired by delivery or drive through, microwaved and eaten in mere minutes. We Facetime, Skype, or use another favorite app to communicate with friends and family around the world. We fly to get there in a few hours instead of days or weeks of travel. But wait? That is not something we do very well. There is at least one thing that still teaches us patience. It still takes about 9 months from conception to birth of a baby. We cannot rush the cell-by-cell growth of the fertilized and implanted egg in the womb as God does His work of creating another human being! Then we rush headlong into life and gasp when we begin to realize that we may only have a few years left as we reach our “golden years.”

God seldom moves at that pace. He understands that good things take time. The best food is that which is cooked, roasted, prepared slowly with much love and savored slowly with family and friends. The best times together are those when we slow down for a good conversation without one or the other of us having to rush off. And those who take the time to meet with God without throwing prayers like darts as we run by, find that the time with God is refreshing and enlightening and pulls us deep into a relationship with Him and sometimes calls us out to things much bigger than ourselves!

“When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ ‘Here I am,’ Moses replied.” Exodus 3:4

I don’t know about you, but if I heard a voice coming from a burning bush, I don’t think I would calmly say, “Here I am!” Unless I knew the voice. The story of Moses’ early life is brief and without a lot of details. He was born to a Hebrew family in Egypt during a time of extreme oppression. His family had been instructed to throw any baby boys into the river! Of course, his parents couldn’t do that! They kept him as long as they could, then placed him in a basket in the river being watched from a distance by his sister. He was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter who apparently had a much softer heart than her father. He needed a wet nurse and through the quick thinking of his sister, he was given back to his mother until he was weened. In those days, that would have given her the better part of the preschool years with him. In those years, Moses would have learned the Hebrew language and begun to learn about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Hebrew people would have lived with the hope and promise of returning to Canaan prophesied by Jacob and Joseph.

Like any adopted or foster child, Moses would have always had a longing in his heart to return to his people even while enjoying the ‘good life’ in the palace of Pharaoh. In that longing, I wonder if Moses prayed and talked to God regularly even while learning the Egyptian way of life and the skills of leadership. I wonder if he prayed for his family and prayed to be returned to them. There was something there or he would never have attacked the Egyptian who was torturing a Hebrew slave. But the time wasn’t right, and Moses had to flee for his life and ended up in Midian where he married, started a family, and lived as a shepherd for many years.

During his time there, he must have continued to talk and walk regularly with God and likely prayed for his Hebrew family who were still very oppressed as slaves in Egypt. Have you ever prayed and prayed for something/someone and then one day you hear God say, “Let’s go! I want to use you as my instrument to answer your prayer.” I wonder if that is what happened with Moses and that is why he so quickly said, “Here I am.”

As that conversation went on, God began to get very specific and asked Moses to go back to Egypt. Through those years, God had been grooming Moses for one of the biggest jobs He ever asked a man to do! He had not rushed Moses. He was working through the infancy, toddler, primary, teen, young adult, and manhood years of Moses’ life, patiently preparing Moses for what was to come – the leading of several million people on a 40-year camping trip in the dessert without a supply wagon! Who in their right mind would accept that job offer? Only someone who walked intimately with God and understood the calling.

Lord, help me to be patient, to wait, and to sit at your feet learning from you, and then to be obedient when you call me out to go where you call me to go and to speak what you teach me to say. Amen.

Big Questions that Want Answers

From the time we can talk, one of the first and most consistent questions we ask is, “Why?” There is no end to what children attach to that word. Why is the sky blue? Why is there a moon? Why do I need to go to bed? And on and on they question. As we grow up, the question takes on a different intensity. Scientists and philosophers answer the question with their research and ponderings.

One question in particular plagues us most of our lives. Why do ‘bad’ things happen to ‘good’ people? It is an age-old question that comes up pretty much every time we suffer hardship or loss.

Reading God’s preserved stories about Joseph and Job simultaneously and adding my own experiences with suffering, has given me a different perspective on this big question, “Why?” Joseph answered the question with, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” Genesis 50:20 NLT And Job was answered by God with, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Job responds with, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I – and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things too wonderful for me… I have only heard of you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I have said, and I sit in the dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Job 42:2-6 NLT

Somehow, in this world, we have a magnified self-importance. We forget who created us for what purposes and we get busy taking care of our own interests – things that make us more comfortable and put our mind at ease. Like Job, we may be good people doing a lot of good for others or like Joseph, we may be striving as slaves for masters who get all the benefits of our labors. Both had a relationship with God but could only see their little part of the world. Job used his wealth and position to bless others. Joseph used his gifts and talents to do well where he was placed. He didn’t know why, but he continued to believe that God had a plan, and he used his time in slavery to learn and develop skills that would later take him straight to the top in a foreign land, second only to Pharaoh. Job lost everything including his health and questioned God. Up until now, he believed that if he shared and was hospitable and used the wisdom God gave him to bless others, God would fulfill his need for comfort and peace. So he was trying to defend himself but God wouldn’t listen to his defense! Different journeys, but same destination! God, in His wisdom, uses the trials in this world to bring us to a place where we meet Him face to face and come to terms with His sovereignty and our need of His grace and mercy.

It is in our own suffering that we are able to gain this new perspective of where we fit into the picture. Without suffering, I believe I am king or queen of my own little universe. When suffering comes, my little perfect universe begins to crumble, and I begin to see that God is truly the ruler of the whole universe. He created it and He knows how to best manage it. I am a small but important part of His creation. He loves me dearly and will do what it takes to open my eyes to His glory, His goodness, His faithfulness, His power, His love and His awesome presence. Who am I to question my maker? As Job says, it is all too wonderful for me to comprehend!

Now He has me in a place where I can more easily be used to His purposes. I become more flexible, more in tune with the Holy Spirit, more willing to obey. I don’t just go through the motions of worship. I truly worship because now I recognize who He is – my awesome Maker! God inhabits the praises of His children. His presence in me is more pronounced. His grace is evident in me and is easily extended to others because that is who He is!

We don’t naturally choose suffering, but God, in His mercy, knows exactly what each one of us need to come to the place where we can meet Him face to face and see His glory! He can use any circumstance in this world to bring us to this place. If we give it to Him, He will use it for good because He is good.

Thank you, Lord, for not allowing me to be lost in my own little kingdom. In your mercy and grace, you called me out and brought me into your presence through your word and through my life circumstances. I praise you and honor you and give you all the glory, for you alone are worthy of all glory and praise! Amen.