MOSES AND GOD
WHO'S ADVICE?

WHINERS:

At first I would be tempted to ignore this behavior on the part of the Hebrews, but over the next two or three books it becomes a pattern, revealing a major character flaw in a chosen group called to live by faith. Pharaoh had finally let the children of Israel go. Then reality set it. He made a huge economic and political mistake. Call out the army. Chase those slaves down, bring them back, punish them and put them to work.

The Hebrew chillun looked back and were no long chillin.' They panicked and shifted into a mean and sarcastic mode. “Are there no graves in Egypt?” That's sarcasm. The pyramids were already 2000 years old. You brought us out here to die in the desert! That was just choir practice for their repeated chant every time things went wrong. “Moses! You brought us out here to die!” And they re-wrote their own history, looking back on their years of slavery as living on the “fleshpots of Egypt.” Even to slaves the past looked like the good old days. Nonsense then, and nonsense now. All days are good days if we but knew what to do with them. I suspect the “good ole days” were good because we were children with no responsibilities except to play and go to school.

MOSES'S ADVICE:

“Chill, chilluns!” yelled Moses back. Stand still. Quit milling around. Watch and see what the Lord will do. Those Egyptians you see coming, take a good look. After today, you'll never see them again. That last part was true. The first part, not so good.

GOD'S COMMAND:

“Nonsense, Moses. Tell the people to go forward. Get a move on.!”
“But we're between the devil and the deep blue sea. There's no place to go. The Egyptian army is in sight behind us, and this Sea of Reeds is blocking our way ahead.”
“You chill, Moses. I said go forward. Now get with the program.”

AND THEN...

Moses stretched out his rod toward the water (I wonder how he knew to do that?) and the sea got out of the way. And God's people marched through on dry ground! The soldiers didn't hesitate much. They walked right over the seabed to recapture those slaves. By then the last slave was across, and Moses again raised his staff, allowing the waters to roll back. Their chariots and armor didn't float. Israel was free – more or less. How do you live in the desert?

Let's go back and look at Moses's decision of what to do. First, he knew that the Lord had sent him on a mission and letting the people panic didn't help. There's no sin in seeing an unforeseen danger or problem prop up and having all kinds of negative feelings pop up. Psychologists like to say we have three reactions: fight, flight, or play dead. Unless you're actually in immediate danger, rule out flight right off the top. Faith calls us to move forward. The response left out so far is to move in and solve the problem. Someone has said that Police and Firefighters go rushing in when everyone else is trying to get out! Psychologists also tell us that humans' natural first response to a new idea is “NO.” So we need to push past that. Sometimes “NO” is correct. Sometimes it's best to do nothing. But often getting past the comfort zone brings great results. FBC Ruston began a contemporary service 8 or 10 years ago. After the first year or two we flipped the 8:30 contemporary service to 11:00 to allow younger families to get their kids ready. Attendance has almost doubled from 500 to bumping against (and occasionally over) a thousand! It'ss only been a couple of years we moved the Sunday night service to Wednesday night. From barely 200 to 250 and climbing, we keep growing. What if the church had said no?

But God said go forward. Head directly into the obstacle. Someone has suggested that the Red Sea and the Jordan River did not begin to part until the first Hebrew led the way by stepping into the water on faith. If you only attempt what you already know you can do, you will never stretch yourself. More important, if you never attempt the impossible, you will never experience what God can do!

Since way back in college I've heard pastors and other committed Christians discuss how difficult it can be to recognize the Lord's leadership. Is the Lord really leading me to this next church, or is it my ego wanting a bigger church and salary? Certainly the Lord calls people to the bigger churches. Certainly He calls many to do other things. Today there are more opportunities than ever for laity to take mission trips and actually get involved in witnessing, drilling wells, and delivering medical care. You need to discover how the Spirit speaks to you and guides you.
Think back to the occasions where you know the Lord has led you. How did He do it? Can you remember other times when you were guided by your own desires that may or may not have had God involved. (Sometimes He uses our desires to guide us. Learn to know the difference.)

When Israel obeyed, they found freedom. But they had a lot of trouble keeping it and even more trouble enjoying it. Stay tuned...