Exodus 3-8: All that God Sees

"But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
"And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty–handed. -Ex. 3:19:21 NIV

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Ex. 4:1 NIV

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” -Ex. 4:10-11 NIV

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.” -Ex. 5:22-23 NIV

This sounds so much like me sometimes.  I hear the voice of the Lord and his promise that he will never leave me or forsake me, but I don't trust him that he will fulfill  his promise.  My life becomes one of constantly questioning what is going on around me. 'You haven't rescued me,'  I cry. 'In fact, my circumstances have become worse.  Now, in addition being enslaved to these bricks, I have to gather the straw to make them with.  Why are you bringing this trouble upon me?'

What we cannot see is behind the scenes.  The entire picture is much more complicated than what our tiny viewpoint would expose.  Moses cannot see what lies ahead.  He cannot see the many plagues and Pharaoh's tepid response.  He cannot see the avenging angel of death passing over the doorposts with blood on them.  He cannot see the Egyptians giving the Israelites their precious possessions and begging them to leave.  He cannot see the sea dividing before them.  He cannot see God's provision. He cannot see all that God sees.

Exodus 1-2: A Foreigner in a Foreign Land

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.  Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become a foreigner in a foreign land." - Ex. 2:21-22- NIV

Moses ran away.  The favored child of Pharaoh's daughter suddenly found himself out of favor so he ran.  He ran to a safe place, Midian, and hid out there in plain view. Up until the sight of the burning bush and the voice of God shook his world, he led a quiet life among his father-in-law's people  But events, like the birth of a son, would occasionally bring back the reality that he was a stranger in a strange land.  He didn't belong.  In truth, the only reason Moses found any peace and safety in the land to which he ran, was a because of God's divine plan.  Perhaps it was loneliness that caused Moses to pay attention to the voice from the burning bush.  God used that time as a foreigner to mold Moses into someone who would be receptive to His voice and His leading.

Genesis 42-50: Always Worth It

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. -Gen. 50:19-20 NIV

We have a tendency to think that our circumstances are in the place of God.  That everything that befalls us bigger than He is;  that everything escapes His notice.  Not only does it not escape the notice of the Creator,  It is all orchestrated by Him.  Even the confusion the enemy would try to create is of use to the Father.

What wonderful opportunities for good would we miss if only everything that was good at first glance happened to us?  Our lives would be easy, but would they be fruitful, would they produce the end that we truly desire which is being used by God.  Living in God's will means that we will be used for whatever means he sees fit,  But, God is not a capricious God that lets ill will happen to us for no reason.  God always has good intentions for us.  His intentions, however, include more than just ourselves, so we may walk through trials on behalf of others, but it will always be worth it.

Genesis 36-41: Fruitful in the Land of Suffering

Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” -Gen. 43:14-15 NIV

Why is it so hard for us to see this; that often we are being made fruitful in the midst of our suffering.  While Joseph may have felt that he was forgotten and abandoned during the years that he spent in prison, he never was.  It was in retrospect that he could look back and see that the hand of God was at work all the time.  Not only was God at work, but the fruit that was produced by the the events in Joseph's life was greater than that which would have occurred had he led an uneventful life with success but no suffering.  If not for prison, Joseph would never been in a position to interpret Pharaoh's dreams and subsequently would never have been put in the position where he was in charge of everything in Egypt.  As Joseph told his brothers, And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.- Gen. 45:5--8 NIV

It is never God's will to harm us, but to make us fruitful in the land of suffering.

Genesis 29-35: What's in a Name?

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.
She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children. -Gen. 29:32-35

Even today, some people study the meaning of a name before giving it to a child, and in some cases the meaning of those names follow throughout our lives.  Nancy, which is derived from the name Ann, and Ann, which is my middle name, both mean grace.  I like to think that the meaning of those names have been true in my life.  Not because I am graceful, which I am certainly not, but because my life has been and continues to be touched by God's grace.  What more could one ask?

When Leah named her sons, she considered her circumstances and their names followed.  'The Lord has seen my misery," she said when she gave Reuben his name.  Reuben ended up bearing a lot of misery for the family of Jacob.  He is the one who tried to protect Joseph when the brothers wanted to kill him.  He is the one that pleaded with Joseph on behalf of the brothers when they went down to Egypt for food.  He is the one who had to tell Jacob that Simeon had been left behind in Egypt.  Their names became prophetic.

Then, there is Judah.  The one from which the line of the Savior would come.  Only when Leah let go of her circumstances, only when she decided that she would praise the Lord in spite of her second class status in the eyes of Jacob, did redemption come.  Judah, the one whose descendant would redeem the world, was born out of a heart full of praise.

Genesis 28: The Reality of God

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.  
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;  
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.  
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.  
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. - Gen. 28:12-17 KJV

Can you imagine that?  Jacob encounters the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac who makes wonderful promises to him and it scares the daylights out of him.  'How dreadful is this place!' he exclaimed.  'This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.'

God is that awesome.  Meeting him face to face changes us, it makes us aware of how totally unprepared we are to face him and his majesty.

Shortly before my mother died in December, I visited with her in one of her more lucid moments.  "I've been so foolish.' she kept repeating, 'so foolish." I believe in her final days here on earth she had already begun the transition to heaven and saw things we cannot see. I think her reaction is what our own reaction will be to seeing God:  fear and inadequacy.  Not having seen God, it is easy for us to pray and sing, asking him to come down.  We tend to think of God as being our size, hence someone we can order around, but he is not.  He is something much greater, much more awesome, much more majestic than anything we can conceive.  Our paltry ideas of what he is like pale in comparison to the reality of God.

Genesis 23-27: Despising the Birthright

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)   Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."  "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"   But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. - Gen. 25:19-34 NIV

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. - Gen. 27:38 NIV

How often do we despise our birthright from God.  Oh, we love the Father, but we're busy with our own lives.  We're hungry, but we don't want to wait to be fed by the father.  We'll take sustenance wherever we can find it.  We come in from the field and we want to be fed right now.  Just like Esau, satisfying our immediate hunger is the only thing we can think of.  In our desperate haste, to succeed, to have our needs met, we decide that our birthright as children of God is not that important.

Rather than taking the time to really read and study God's word, we read 'Christian' novels or watch a renown televangelist.  This fills us up, makes us feel we have been fed, but it's like eating marshmallows instead of a good meal.  We grow fat and weak at the same time.  We know we're famished, but we sell our birthright for a bowl of lentil stew.