God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

Exodus 6:1-4 -  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord.   I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.  I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 

Moses had asked God why.  Why had he sent him….why had his coming made the Hebrews lives even tougher…why he had not kept his word. He poured out his frustration and confusion on God in his prayer…perhaps with a bit too much judgement on God’s version of however Moses had imagined the job he gave him to do coming down.

So God answered him.  It wasn’t one of those short answers … God made sure he went back to the beginning of his relationship with the Hebrews. God simply stated the facts…I am God….I made  a promise…and I will keep it.  Then he told Moses to go and tell the same thing to the Israelite people.

It’s another reminder to me of how God’s ways are not our ways.  God knew that Pharaoh was not going to let his favorite slaves go easily…so he was going to use the stubborn spirit of Pharaoh to teach him just how mighty and powerful the God of the Hebrews was. Pharaoh wasn’t just going to let them go…he was going to drive them away in fear of what else God might do to him.

It’s hard to see the full picture of how God can use the tragedy or trial of a friend…family member…or even one’s self to bring about a picture of God’s glory when it happens.  But as time passes…the pieces start to fall together and God reveals a bit more of why he allowed certain things to happen.  Just like the release of the Hebrews from Egypt…which probably took about two months to complete… how long it took isn’t the point. It’s what we learn along the way. The Hebrews had lived so long in captivity …they needed the reminder of how strong God’s power was too.

Father…thank you for the reminder that your timetable does not always match my logic or imagination.  Forgive me for the times I get impatient like Moses and lose faith and trust in your final promise to give me a purposeful future that will help you build the kingdom of God on Earth.  Help me to be ever willing to wait as long as it takes to have the answers to my questions…even accepting the times that no answers are given. Amen.