Walking in faith

I was thinking about what Frances Chan said on the radio show, Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey on Wednesday night as I was driving to church. I was thinking about his comments of how sometimes Christians are afraid to step out in faith and stand on an extreme prayer request, that is asked in line with the will of God. That we are afraid of the rejection or that is something doesn't happen as we asked that we have missed God and will look bad.

 

It made me think about Moses. The guy had everything, but chose to leave it behind, went out to the wilderness, had an encounter with God, and then had to go back to the place he had left and 1) Go tell the ruler of the land to let the Israelites go to the wilderness to worship God 2) Go tell the Israelites that he is the one that came to speak on their behalf to the Pharaoh and led them out of Egypt.

 

I was looking over notes I had written from previous Bible readings and come across a note from Exodus 3 that I wrote back in September 2008. My notes state "God can reach us even when we are doing common things (verse 1). God called Moses twice to get his attention. God sees and hears us. He comes to deliver us and give us into a promised land. God will send someone to demand 'let my people go.' If he sends you, he will be with you. Moses had to tell his story to the elders. He had physical backup the king. God knew how Pharaoh would respond, but He sent Moses anyway.

 

I read that, and had another Ahh Haa moment - something obviously that I knew, but that had not clicked for me. If God would send Moses into a situation where he would be rejected and told no, why would He change His methods. As Pastor Curtis Holt says "Satan won't ask you to do something that will further God's kingdom." Why should I be afraid if God tells me to pray for something, speak to someone, or take a stand - of the response of others? My role as a Christian is obedience to God, not based on the response of others.

 

1. There are going to be times when God sends us and we are going to hit a road block, not once but repeatedly just like Moses.
2. Sometimes things will get tougher before we see the results, Pharaoh made things rough every step of the way for Moses and the Israelites.
3. People in other positions may make things harder for us; the Egyptians had the Israelites to meet the same goals in their labor with fewer resources.
4. People may complain against us, the Israelites certainly complained against Moses to just leave them alone it was easier before he came along.
5. We may get blamed for things that happen outside of our control, Moses was blamed for everything.
6. We may second guess ourselves and God's word to us, Moses did.

 

It is time we start walking by faith, lead by the Holy Spirit. It is much easier than it was for Moses as we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us and empower us and the grace of God to help us walk it out!