God Knows Our Limits

Exodus 4:13-14 - But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

God was patient with Moses first 4 excuses …but the fifth brought anger.  God had reached his limit …his promise to send his brother Aaron to help him was his final directive. Moses saw that God was not going to change his mind and use someone else…so he went back to his father-in-law Jethro and asked to take his family back to Egypt.

It reminded me of some of the times my role as a mother required me to get angry before my children knew I meant business.  They would take their time and play and procrastinate as long as I would let them.  But when the angry voice came out…they knew momma wasn’t going to back down….they had better get to work or face the consequences.

In my heart…I knew exactly what it was going to take before they rose to follow my directions…but I gave them the benefit of the doubt…in hopes that I was wrong. Maybe they had finally grown up and would do it the first time. Since it was usually the third request for me.... the saying …third times the charm….was a great encouragement to me as a mom.

God knows exactly what we are thinking when he calls us to do something.  He knew exactly what Moses was going to use as an excuse…and he knew that seeing God’s anger would be the thing he needed to commit to God’s will for the next season of his life. God knew that Jonah would need to spend 3 days in the belly of a whale before he got it.  God knew that Thomas would need to see and touch his scars to believe.

I am so glad that God knows our every excuse and has a plan to put our hearts and mind in a commitment mode.  He will do whatever it takes to get us to commit to follow his will for our life.  Even if I mess up…God just throws backup plan number….well mine is probably in the thousands by now…into action to get us back on track. I am not sure I have reached God’s limit yet…I still mess up way too much. And he just lovingly picks me back up and steers me in the right direction again.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you know our very thoughts before we think them…and you love so very much that you keep chasing us with your will.  Forgive me for making you work so hard to keep my heart and mind focused on you.  Help me to listen and trust you when I hear you call me to do something for you.  Amen.