Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!”
— Exodus 5:22-23
“OK! OK!” I said as one more prayer time had been interrupted by the Holy Spirit’s conviction to take a step of faith with regard to our giving to the church.
We were young, trying to juggle young children, keep up an old house and old cars all on a small single income.
The thought of giving more literally took the oxygen right out of my lungs.
I “argued” (code word for disobeyed) with God for a long time until I finally relented.
Upon increasing our giving, our slow financial decline went into a free fall.
“Seriously, God! Why did you tell us to do this?!”
Have you ever been there? Moses was.
In Exodus 5, any grand visions of marching into Egypt, giving Pharaoh what for and marching out triumphantly with God’s people were quickly shattered.
Pharaoh apparently didn’t get the memo and struck out at the people because of the message from God that Moses proclaimed to Pharaoh.
He did what he was told to do, and things only got worse.
In time, he was able to see the bigger picture, but it was rough in the moment.
Obedience doesn’t equal comfortable and easy. It’s an investment into God’s bigger purposes, a treasure laid up in heaven.
Our continuous struggle between a here and now perspective and an eternal perspective will not cease this side of eternity.
The tension is real.
Will we walk by faith, or will we walk by sight?
In time, God did turn our financial situation around in ways we never could have imagined.
Our trust in him grew through that whole difficult process.
However, we still struggle every time he calls us to obey and then get hurt when we do so.
What about you? An eternal perspective doesn’t just happen. It’s cultivated in the quiet on our knees. It’s fueled by a relentless pursuit of his word.
God can still part seas.
Are you in?
Still confident
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
— Psalm 27:13-14
I hadn’t been much help to my team because I am a poor golfer at best.
The scramble format, where you use the best shot of the group, is the only one in which I can contribute every now and then.
This day, however, it just wasn’t happening.
My teammates were gracious with all my slices, hooks and worm burners, but I was getting frustrated.
With a decent amount of holes left to play, however, I was still confident I could somehow come through in the clutch.
Not long after, we all yelled and cheered as my chip shot bounced and then rolled into the cup for an eagle.
King David was feeling squeezed. He had opposition from within and without. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, he turned his attention to the Lord. “Don’t abandon me now, God!”
The going was rough, and he had no place left to turn.
He kept reminding himself who God is and what he had done in the past.
In so doing, his confidence remained high. He knew his enemies were waiting to attack, but he refused to surrender his courage.
David found out what Isaiah would speak of later: “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.”
What are you confident of today, other than death and taxes?
At times, life can feel kind of squishy with no solid ground upon which to stand. We lean into something or someone only to feel it give way under the weight of the realities of this life.
In our frustrations, disappointments and hurt we find ourselves being slowly covered and overtaken by the dark clouds of hopelessness and fear.
Today, we are invited to lean into the promises and the presence of God.
There we find strength. There we find peace.
There, with Jesus, we walk in confidence. Our God will never fail.
Wiles is senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.