February 22, 2014--Exodus 1-3, Standing in What We Don't Know

PRAYER

Daddy,

I can’t think clearly enough for eloquence, so let me just lay it on the table. Israel is your people, and I am asking you to lay their enemies low. I am asking you to bring down the enemies of Israel with a mighty hand. Bring them down like mountains into dust. I ask that anyone who has the audacity to set themselves up against your people see your hand of judgment raised against them. Be with your people and bless them.

Amen

BIBLE READING

Exodus 1—So everybody we used to know is dead, including the nice pharaoh. Fear has come into play, and we try to control or get rid of what we fear. One of the things I love about this chapter is that the midwives feared God and He gave them families of their own. Gotta love God. J

Exodus 2—I cannot imagine how terrifying it was for Moses’ mom to put him in that basket and leave him in that river where wild animals were and who know what would happen to him. I don’t know if she was a woman of faith or a woman of desperation, but that took tremendous courage.

So life is cushy in the palace, and Moses sees an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew, and he snaps. Next thing you know, he’s in a desert getting married and having babies. Do you wonder if Moses ever sat in that desert and wondered if he had blown it? Did he know he was the deliverer for the Hebrews? Did he think he had blown it beyond redemption? Just wondering.

 Exodus 3—Okay, so let me get this straight. If I am Moses, I am thinking, “You want me to go to Pharaoh, the same Pharaoh I made really mad by killing one his men, the same Pharaoh who tried to kill me, and tell him that this God he can’t see wants him to let all the slaves go, and I will know this is you AFTER we are safe on the other side?”

 And I love this. Moses asks, “Who am I to do this?”

 God does not reply with anything about Moses. He answers concerning Himself. “I will be with you.”

 Simple enough. This is NOTHING about you. This is ALL about me. Not hard.

 Except, it is hard, and people sit there and mouth about Moses’ lack of faith, but really, I think I can understand. God is going to be with him, but it’s not like he can take this non-burning bush around with him to prove it, and not only will the Israelites have their doubts, but Pharaoh is going to be difficult and need miraculous proof.

 “And who am I supposed to tell them told me to do this?”

 “I Am that I Am.”

 I mean seriously. Think about this for a moment. Just…yeah, I can see why Moses is a bit hesitant.

 MEMORIZATION

Muddled minds don’t memorize well, so today I’m reading. For reasons I will blog about later, I am reading Proverbs 31. And her Husband shall rise up and call her blessed. So let it be for me, Lord.

BIBLE STUDY/JOURNAL

I am pondering Moses and how easy it is to stand in what we can see instead of walking in what we can't.

 

Copyright 2014 Jerri Kelley Phillips