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The God Who Is—And Will

While delivering Israel from Egypt, Moses hit “the wall” — a proverbial place that his current idea of God disallowed. Sooner or later, you, too, will hit “the wall.” But like Moses, here are two faith essentials you’ll discover at “the wall”: 1) God is the “I am.” He is the self-existent Sovereign of the universe. And he makes no mistakes! When he calls you, he will care for you; where he guides you, he will provide for you. If you’re stuck at “the wall,” don’t focus on the “I can’t,” lean into the “I Am” who knows what he’s doing, even when you don’t. 2) God says “I will.” He’s not God of the past, he’s Ruler of the present. He’s not a laid-back noun; he’s in action, always, working even now. You can’t see it, but you can trust it: God is using “the wall” to perfect his will in and through you. If you are at “the wall,” open your heart to the “I Am” who says, “I Will.” God is with you, he will bring you through it, and on the other side of it, he is already there, waiting with victory in his hand.

Going Deep // Focus: Exodus 6:6-8

Therefore, say to the Israelites: “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”

After 40 years of desert training, God finally gets Moses back on track with a divine assignment—and what an assignment it is! He is to go, as God’s voice, and demand that Pharaoh, the world’s most powerful leader, let the tribes of Israel leave Egypt. And not just for a field trip, mind you—to permanently leave in order to establish their own nation elsewhere. That would mean over two million unpaid laborers leaving Egypt’s workforce. From a human perspective, this is a non-starter; God is sending Moses into a mission that will be dead on arrival.

Further complicating the matter, Moses was painfully insecure about himself—from his past failures, his personal limitations, and from his brutal sense of reality—he knew the ways of Egypt, having been a one-time prince there, and he knew that this was definitely a very bad plan. Not only that, Moses’ previous attempt to submit a leave request for Israel had resulted in Pharaoh increasing their workload while decreasing the raw material need for their project. This was a case where God’s will had made things worse before it would get better. The Israelites were in the “things are worse” phase and couldn’t see the “things will get better” phase, and they were none too happy with Moses and not too thrilled with God. At this point, they were not listening to either.

So at this point in the Exodus story, Moses has hit the wall. Doing the will of God did not bring immediate success. On the contrary, it brought more difficulty—more failure and more insecurity, a real reality-check for the reluctant deliverer. When you listen to his arguments with God over the past three chapters, you get the sense that Moses felt abandoned by God, hung out to dry and given an impossible task. Now he was the cause of even greater hardship for his people, which left him with a deep sense that he had missed the will of God by miles.

Side Bar: Obviously, you have felt that way in your walk with God, too. I’ve certainly been there. That is just part and parcel of what it means to walk in faith and obedience with God. How often does the journey take us through a place that is darker than what our definition of faith allows before we come into the sunshine of divine favor. And it is in those dark places that we doubt ourselves, our calling and our God.

But in response to Moses’ pleadings, we see two eternal truths about God that should help us in those times when doing the will of God seems to bring us up against the wall:

First, we see that five times, God says, “I am…” That is who God is: the Great I Am. He is the Eternal One, the self-existent Sovereign of the Universe. And he makes no mistakes—ever! When he calls you, he will care for you in the journey. Where he guides you, he will provide for you. Don’t focus on the I can’t—lean into the Great I Am. He knows what he is doing, even if you don’t.

Second, we see that times God says “I will…” God is not the God of the past, he is the Ruler of the present. He is not a laid-back noun; God is in action. He is always at work—even right at this very moment. You can’t see it, but you can trust it: God is working to perfect his will through what he has tasked you to do. In the Christian walk, in reality, there is no such thing as “a wall”; there is only an “I Will!”

The Lord is with you and ahead of you. When God calls you to a step of faith, in reality, he has already gone before you and is waiting where the step of faith will take you. Yes, he goes before you (“the Lord is going before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.” Isaiah 52:12), he prepares the way for you (“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20), he gives you safety and protection on the journey (“For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you.” Deuteronomy 23:14), he guarantees your success (“if you are careful to obey each of his laws, then you will be successful in everything you do.” Joshua 1:7) and he ensures the journey of faith will leave you with an outstanding testimony (“If you do, he will make you greater than any other nation, allowing you to receive praise, honor, and renown.” Deuteronomy 26:19). So wherever God calls, step out, even if it means stepping through the wall.

Your God is the God who is—and will!

Going Deeper With God: Read James 1:2-8 and you will see how your difficulties and God’s will go together. You will discover how God employs temporal hardship to build eternal character in your life. Now, if your faith has led you into a difficult spot, quit focusing on “the wall” and start looking for the “I Will” from the God who is “I Am”.

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When You Are About To Break—Don’t

God will never lose track of you, even if you are in the thick fog of threatening circumstances. And if you will simply review God’s track record of wisely, faithfully and impeccably bringing about deliverance for his people, often at the eleventh hour, you will a “see” a more powerful testimony of his power for your life and greater glory to himself is around the corner. So if you’re about to break, don’t. The fact that your conditions are worsening only signals that you are inches away from an amazing breakthrough!

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 5:22-23, 6:5

Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” … Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am well aware of my covenant with my people.

Who knows how many spiritual victories and miraculous interventions God’s people forfeited because they retreated from God’s work in the face of increased adversity; they pulled up just before the finish line. Such was the case of Florence Chadwick, a world famous swimmer who famously gave up just a half mile shy of the California coastline on her record swim from the Catalina Islands.

Previously, Florence became the first woman ever to cross the English Channel twice both ways. But on the fourth of July 1952, the thirty-four year old swimmer was set on being the first woman to swim the twenty-six miles between Catalina Island and the shores of the Golden State. After fifteen hours of swimming, a thick, heavy fog set in. Florence began to doubt her ability, and she told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she didn’t think she could make it.

Her mother and her trainer encouraged her to not to give up, to press on because the coast had to be close. But all Florence could see was the fog—and she gave up, in reality, so close, yet in her mind, so far.

Neither could Moses see what God saw. Moses saw only the reality of rejection and increasing hostility as Pharaoh threw him out of his presence. God had instructed Moses to declare before this great world ruler that it was time to let Israel go. But this time, Moses’ message fell on Pharaoh’s deaf ears. Yet it was not deaf ears, it was a hard heart—hardened by God for a forthcoming purpose that would be glorious beyond belief. Moses could only see the fog of defeat in front of him. Above the fog, God was bringing the victory for his people closer and closer.

As someone has said, it is always darkest before the dawn. Sometimes God’s best activity is directly preceded by the last throes of Satanic struggle—one last surge to discourage the child of God into retreat and surrender. What we should never forget is that at the darkest, most difficult moments of our conflicts, God is well aware of his covenant with his people—a covenant that guarantees victory, not defeat.

God will never lose track of us, even if we are in the thick fog of threatening circumstances. And if we will simply review God’s track record of wisely, faithfully and impeccably bringing about deliverance for his people, often at the eleventh hour, we will a “see” a more powerful testimony of his power for our lives and greater glory to himself is just around the corner.

If “worsening conditions” describes you, and you feel like you are about to break, don’t. The fact that your conditions are worsening only signals that you are inches away from an amazing breakthrough!

As Frederick Douglas said, “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.”

Going Deeper: If you are in a really hard place right now, wondering where God is, and ready to pull back from taking steps of faith, let me suggest a prayer for you to offer to God: “Dear God, I am struggling with the difficult and discouraging times in my life. Just at the time where I have hoped and prayed for a breakthrough, it seems as though I am about to break. But I will seize upon your promise to Moses: I am well aware of my covenant with my people. Lord, you remember us…you remember me. Now I pray, strengthen me to remain faithful and not to retreat in the face of adversity; let me not forfeit the victory that you have in store for me. Show me your unfailing love and great favor—and may it begin anew today!

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From Your Lips to God’s Ears

Holy Spirit, Make Sense of Our Senseless Prayers

Do you ever feel inadequate to come before a holy God in prayer? Have you witnessed prayer warriors interceding with such ease that it intimidates you because you could certainly never pray like that? Do you ever run out of words when you pray? When it comes to prayer, do you feel as Ringo Star once sang, “it don’t come easy.” Guess what! That’s okay! When I don’t know how to pray or what to pray or feel so incredibly inadequate to pray, the Holy Spirit dwelling within me does the praying for me. He takes my inarticulate, jumbled thoughts and raises them to the Father above, making perfect sense of the things that are running through my mind and burdening my heart. My prayers don’t have to be smooth, they don’t have to have perfect grammatical structure, they don’t even have to make sense. They just need to come from a heart that is crying out for the Father’s best in my life, and the indwelling Spirit does the rest.

A Simple Prayer for Praying More Powerfully:

God, through the indwelling presence of your Holy Spirit, take my inarticulate thoughts, my unclear mind, my annoying insecurities about being good enough in prayer, perfect them and bring them near to your heart. Turn my feeble efforts to pray into mountain moving prayers. As I offer what’s in my heart to you, I will thank you in advance for turning them into that which glorifies you. Amen.
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Who? Me?

The Weaker the Vessel, the Greater the Glory

Moses sits permanently in our history books as the greatest leader of all time. But when he got the job, he was the most diffident deliverer ever – a pretty insecure guy. Yet his life teaches a vital lesson: the weaker the vessel, the greater the glory to the One who pours his presence and power into and out through that vessel. The bigger the inadequacies and the bigger the challenge, the bigger the set-up for an enduring testimony to the power of God displayed in the life of one human being who was surrendered, if not reluctantly, to the Almighty’s purposes.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 4:10-13

Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

Like most people, even great leaders, Moses was a pretty insecure guy. He had lost a great job, and while landing a minimum wage gig just to make ends meet, he had nevertheless wandered in obscurity for forty years before the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush with a new assignment. And while that new assignment would thrust Moses into the history books as the greatest leader of all time, at this point in his life, he was the most diffident deliverer ever!

Now keep in mind that it was a burning bush from which God spoke! You typically wouldn’t backtalk God if he spoke to you from a burning bush, yet Moses offered one excuse after another as to why God had come to the wrong guy. You would think if the Almighty showed up in such dramatic fashion Moses might have been convinced that he indeed must be the right man. A God who is powerful enough to speak through a burning bush that doesn’t consume itself, and in fact, calls out your name from the bush, doesn’t tend to show up at the wrong address.

Moses’ problem was that he was more focused on his own inadequacies than on God’s adequacies. Moses was not the one who would have to do all the heavy lifting—God would. Yet God always works through human beings—men and women, by the way, who end up getting a lot of credit when God works through them. And, you know the rest of the story. That is exactly what happened: Moses got more than his fair share of recognition for the mighty acts that God wrought through him.

The truth is, the weaker the vessel, the greater the glory to the One who pours his presence and power into and out through that vessel. The more obvious the inadequacies, the bigger the challenge and the greater the unlikelihood, the larger the set-up for a testimony that will be passed down through generations of the power of God displayed in the life of one human being who was surrendered, if not reluctantly, to purposes of the Almighty.

You may not be called to call down plagues or part the Red Sea, but I’ve got a feeling that you are exactly the kind of person God is looking for. If he is calling you to step out for him, surrender, for he makes no mistakes. And since he has selected you, apparently he plans to do some incredible stuff through your obedience.

Going Deeper: Try offering this prayer of the reluctant: Dear God, I understand Moses’ reluctance. Sometimes I wonder why in the world I am someone you would want to use. Yet you are the One who made me just as I am, placed me where you want me to be, and called me to represent your name. And if you called, you will provide all the resources needed to secure victory, bring greater glory and honor to your name, and leave a legacy of what God can do through simple people submitted to your purposes. Lord, help me to place greater confidence in you than I’ve ever done before. And through my life may your name be exalted in all the land. May my life be a testimony to future generations of the power of God, that a people not yet born will gain great confidence in you and do mighty things in your name, all to your praise and glory.

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So You Want A Burning Bush, Do You?

A Divine Visitation Always Brings a God-Sized Assignment

Desiring a burning bush experience is a great thing; we just need to be aware of the great demands such a desire might place upon us. The reward of being visited by God will always be tempered by the demands of being used by God. Burning bushes always end with pressing assignments. As Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” You want a burning bush? Good—get ready to be God’s chosen instrument in solving the problem that produced the visitation in the first place.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 3:4-5

When the LORD saw that Moses had gone over to look, God called to him from within the burning bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

When you read this amazing story about Moses and the flaming tumbleweed from which God spoke, if you are like me, you’re probably thinking, “Man, I’d like a burning bush experience, too!” Whenever we come to places in Scripture where God or one of his holy agents literally, physically interacts with man—Jacob wrestling with God, Daniel visiting with the archangel, Peter on the mount of transfiguration, John receiving the Revelation—there is just something inside us that longs to encounter the real, living presence of Almighty God, too.

That is not a bad thing. It simply reminds us that in Adam, we were originally created to walk hand-in-hand with our Creator, enjoying an uninterrupted, unfiltered and intimate face-to-face relationship with him. We were designed for that and will continue to desire that until the day God takes us home and our faith once again becomes sight. In the meantime, perhaps, you or I may be one of those fortunate ones along the way to whom God grants a personal visitation.

But there is another side to those burning bush experiences that we need to keep in mind. You can see it here in this text—and you will find it in any of those other face-to-face encounters peppered throughout Scripture as well. First, you will notice that these revelations are preceded by great need. In this case, the people of God, Israel, were being severely abused as slaves in Egypt. They were crying out to God, and he was fixing to recruit a deliverer to deliver them. The fact of the matter is, more often than not, daunting challenges precede these Divine visitations. So you want a burning bush, you say! Can you handle the bad times that go with them?

Second, you will notice that the Divine visitation required the personal purification of the visited. God required Moses to take off his shoes—representing the soiled places literally and spiritually where Moses had trod. Special visitations of the Divine Visitor are never just so he can chat—he has arranged for that to be accomplished through everyday prayer. When he shows up, it is to reveal his special purpose—and the prerequisite for the revelation of his purpose is always clean hands and a pure heart on our part. So you want a burning bush, do you? Then get ready for the intense heat of purification.

Third, a burning bush always ends with a pressing assignment. God told Moses that he had seen and heard the misery of Israel’s slavery, which he would now do something about. (Exodus 3:7-9) And the kicker to this announcement was that Moses was going to be at the tip of the Divine spear when God dealt with Israel’s cruel Egyptian taskmasters. So you want a burning bush, too! Good—get ready to be God’s chosen instrument in solving the problem that produced the visitation in the first place.

When God appears, it is to reveal his kingdom plans, not just to make us feel good or give us a warm, fuzzy spiritual high. No, when God shows up, the encounter will fuel us for the grand kingdom assignment to which we have been assigned.

Still want a burning bush? Yeah—that’s what I thought: You still do! So do I.

Going Deeper: Desiring a burning bush experience is a great thing; we just need to be aware of the great demands such a desire might place upon us. The reward of being visited by God will always be tempered by the demands of being used by God. As Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” So go ahead, ask God for an uncommon encounter. He may just grant your request.

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Learning The Hard Way

The Only Way to a Life of Impact

God is watching over you. What you can’t always see is that he is always at work. What may look like a mistake, a deal breaker, and major disaster, God is managing for his purposes in your life. God is leveraging you—your circumstances, your mistakes, your life—to fulfill his plan for the ages. You will have to learn some lessons the hard way, but keep your heart right with God, and you will graduate your school of hardship to the life of influence and impact that God has destined you for.

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The Journey// Focus: Exodus 2:12,-14-16

After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. …Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.” And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

Arguably, Moses was the greatest leader the world has ever known. Think of the accomplishments of his term of service as deliverer, visionary, lawgiver and guide over Israel during their forty-year exodus from Egypt to their unprecedented resettlement in Canaan. His résumé included unmatched feats such as:

  • Facing down the world’s most powerful leader, Pharaoh, and convincing him to let a two million strong labor force of Israelites leave the land—and leave Egypt’s economy in shambles
  • Leading two million plus unorganized, strong-willed, grumbling Hebrews for forty years through the Sinai desert
  • Parting the Red Sea so that Israel could escape from Egypt, then un-parting that same Red Sea to wipe out the world’s most advanced fighting force when they gave chase
  • Calling forth water from the rock in the desert, then feeding the hungry masses every day for four decades
  • Organizing the Hebrews into a nation that endures still to this day
  • Rallying the people around the law of God and instituting their system of worship
  • And among other things, speaking face-to-face with Almighty God on behalf of the people

Some great leaders may think of themselves as God’s special gift to the world—a few of the swollen egos that have occupied our White House very likely would make that argument of themselves—but no one has ever come close to pulling off what Moses did. Yet Moses didn’t walk into his success without some leadership bruises along the way. He had to learn how to lead the hard way—starting with the catastrophe of killing an Egyptian overlord.

The fact that Moses was a prince of Egypt didn’t give him the authority to, on a whim, slay the abusive foreman. The fact that he first looked this way, then that way, suggests that Moses’ conscience was at work, telling him not to do it. But perhaps his anger, or his privileged upbringing, overruled his knowledge of right from wrong, and he murdered the man. Then, realizing that his dirty deed was known, and sensing that even those he did it for were not too appreciative of his help, as he expected, Moses came to grips with the fact that he had made a fatal error—one that would land him in prison or send him to the gallows—so he fled.

Moses learned the hard way. Through failure, then being a fugitive, and finally by living as a foreigner for the next forty years, God taught Moses how to manage his instincts—instincts that without an internal governor, led to disaster, but brought under control, would lead him to unparalleled accomplishment. What Moses didn’t know at the time was that God had given him enough rope to hang himself, but by that same rope God would throw him a line for a second chance. God was training Moses in the curriculum of hardship; Moses was being forced to learn, albeit the hard way!

So far, throughout the story of how God was developing a people for himself through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now Moses, we have seen how time and again God has overruled human error in order to bring about his eternal plan. These human mistakes had dire consequences; they sidetracked God’s plans for a season—Moses’ mistakes cost him forty years of remedial education; Israel’s rebellion in the desert cost them forty years of wilderness wandering—yet God was always at work, sovereignly, managing his people and moving his plan along the timeline of divine purpose.

The point being, God does that with you, too. He is watching over you. What you can’t always see is that he is always at work. What may look like a mistake, a deal breaker, and major disaster, God is managing for his purposes in your life. God is leveraging you—your circumstances, your mistakes, your life—to fulfill his plan for the ages.

You will have to learn some lessons the hard way, but keep your heart right with God, and you will graduate your school of hardship to the life of influence and impact that God has destined you for.

Going Deeper: Whenever you find yourself, like Moses, looking this way and that, stop. Look to God. Don’t move until you hear from him. Then do what he tells you to do. Do that, and it will save you a ton of pain, and you will learn a lesson the easy way.

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Pre-Ordered Steps

God Directs the Steps of the Godly

King David wrote, “If you do what the Lord wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.” According to that comforting psalm, we can trust that God himself has closely attended our journey on the path of righteousness—even when we didn’t see it. The Lord has been with us all along the way, and is there now, even in the smallest details of our lives, making sure that our journey will lead to where he pleases. What an encouraging thought: the very next step I take he has already directed.

The Journey: Psalm 37:23

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

What is the best way to do the will of God, to always act in ways that please him and invite his blessings not only on the big decisions but on the daily details of life as well? It is simply to place before him the offering of a godly life. The Contemporary English Version translates Psalm 37:23 this way:

If you do what the Lord wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.

Perhaps you have experienced, like me, that life has only gotten become more complex as the years go by. It is often very difficult to discern the will of God not so much between good and bad, but between better and best. Sometimes there is a gray fuzziness that clouds the right path where the road forks in our journey. And since we usually don’t hear the audible voice of God saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it!” or have his undeniable hand steering our every forward movement, we are left wondering, “what am I to do?”

According to the psalmist, we can trust that God himself has been closely attended our journey on the path of righteousness—even when we don’t see it. We have been guaranteed that the Lord has been with us all along the way, and is there now, even in the smallest details of our lives, making sure that our journey will lead to where he pleases.

What a comforting thought—that “the steps of a righteous person are ordered of the Lord.” So, since our steps are pre-ordered, when you come to a fork in the road, as Yogi Berra would say, “take it”. If you have been doing your part—praying, obeying, trusting and honoring God, being in fellowship with his people and accountable for your life, studying his Word—God has directed steps that have led you to where you are now. Now take the fork, God will have directed that as well.

Proverbs 3:5-9 reminds us,

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.

Abe Poeman, a fourth-century Egyptian monk, said, “If you think little about yourself, you will have rest wherever you reside… If you are silent, you will possess peace wherever you live…To throw yourself before God, to not measure your progress, to leave behind all self-will—these are the instruments for the work of the soul…Give not your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.”

In other words, delight yourself in the way of God and you will find that he has made your way delightful.

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A Simple Prayer:

God, I will closely and always follow you, and I am trusting completely that you will order all my steps to where you want me to go—even the very next step I take.