S211P10 – Lessons from captivity: God will finish the plan

Exo. 14:15-18

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

I am not the first person to hear and believe that if God calls us to something, He will get us through it.  For me, my latest educational journey was a big challenge to that belief.  I had taken one of my last finals, and I was on my commute home relieved and tired.  For some reason I began to question whether I actually submitted my exam answers before leaving the school.  I pulled over and opened my laptop, which somehow I had not yet shut down.  On the screen was my exam software with my draft answers, open and unsubmitted.  I do not know what went wrong, but in that moment I surely thought that I would not be able to rectify that mistake without facing allegations of cheating.  I was honestly shaken and thought that this simple error would jeopardize my degree.  I can imagine that my questions to God in that moment seemed like they had been born from doubt.

Here is the thing about following God.  Even when we hear him clearly and plainly, and the direction He gives us seems impossible to misunderstand or misconstrue, things will happen that make us question whether what He has promised will actually come.  It is the age-old battle between faith and circumstances.  The Jews faced this battle when they not only heard of but also received God’s deliverance only to be chased down by Pharaoh once more.  They were beginning to doubt whether God’s deliverance would be full and complete.  When Moses cried out to God on behalf of the people, the response was telling.  God asked him the reason for his cries.  This was not because God did not know why Moses was crying out because He knows all. This was a question aimed at getting Moses to understand his own motivations and his own doubts, as well as those of his people.

When we set sail on the journey to which God has called us, we can be sure that some waves will guide us along while others will try to roll us.  That is simply par for the course.  Particularly when we are making spiritual headway for God’s kingdom, we can expect opposition at any time.  What we need to remember is that, even when it seems like the obstacles before us will prevail, we have the promises of God to assure us that that will not be the case.  We cannot be motivated by fear and doubt, although there is no fault in seeking answers or additional direction.  How we approach the Lord matters.  The question is whether we still believe in the promise.  Father, thank You for completing everything You start, and thank You for honoring every promise You make.