Meditation for the week of July 2, 2006
Acts 7:25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Moses thought he was destined to be Israel’s deliverer. He thought or supposed that his miraculous preservation from death when he was a baby was because God intended to use him to save the nation from the bondage of Egypt. He likely thought being raised as the son of Pharaoh was all part of God’s plan. He had been trained to be a leader and a ruler. He thought that the children of Israel would understand that He was their deliverer, but they did not accept him like he thought they would.
How often mistakes in life are associated with thinking something is true when it is not. In Luke 24:21, the two on the way to Emmaus were disappointed because they thought the Lord had come to redeem Israel, but their deliverer had ended up being crucified. Many of the people who were looking for a deliverer thought Barabbas showed more promise than the Lord. After all Barabbas had led an insurrection. I think that is what England would have called the American Revolution had they won the War for Independence. So when given a choice by Pilate between Barabbas and the Lord Jesus, the People’s Choice was Barabbas.
Sometimes we have car accidents because “we thought†the other car would stop. Or “we thought†the light was green. Or “we thought’ the road was dry. The people of Israel didn’t see Moses as their deliverer just as they didn’t see the Lord as their deliverer. However, Moses also “thought†some things that weren’t true. He thought he could save the people in his own strength and because of his own privileged position and training. He thought the time was right for the people to be delivered. He thought the people would be glad for his intervention. Moses had some hard lessons to learn.
When Moses was too old to be a deliverer; when he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t even have the oratorical skills to be a deliverer; when he had learned how to be a shepherd as well as a ruler; then the Lord was able to use him. The Lord had intended to use him, Moses just didn’t know the when and the how. But he wasn’t used until the Lord became the deliverer and Moses became the tool that the Lord used.
Too many of us are using our reasoning skills when it comes to serving God rather than our faith skills. Faith often runs counter to reason. Accepting the fact that faith in Christ saves us eternally and that there is no other way of salvation does not make natural sense. Yet, faith takes God at His Word. Often as we try to serve the Lord, we think we know how God wants His work done even though we don’t have a clue. I am encouraged by the fact that even Paul, a man who lived in close fellowship with God, could try twice to serve the Lord in the area we know call Turkey when in fact the Lord wanted him to cross over into Greece (Acts 16:6-10). Likely the whole of Western Civilization has benefited from Paul going West instead of East.
Most of us assume (or think) that if we want to do something for the Lord then it must be His will that we do it. And it usually is. He just might want us to do it some other time or in some other way than we expected. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could quit “assuming†that the Lord is going to bless us just because we want what we think is right? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that we are doing the will of the Lord in His way and in His time?
Someday, I may get this lesson learned
Bruce Collins