By Faith

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.  It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger.  He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.  It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.  Hebrews 11:24-28

Moses, as Scripture points out here, was a great man of faith.  What God did with, and through this man, who by faith would not be distracted from the mission God placed in his hands, was astounding.  Born under a death sentence, Moses’ mother released her baby boy to the hands of God, floating down the river in a basket.  Taken into Pharaoh’s house, and raised as royalty, Moses eventually found out his true heritage and was convinced, by faith, to share in the suffering of his people, rather than the security of earthly power. 

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote:  More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.   Faith is also given that kind of credit for doing the impossible.  However, neither prayer, nor faith, are stand-alone heroes.  It’s easy to get the wrong idea about things when you try to make out of them something different than that for which they were created.  Faith is no exception to that rule.

Imagine a group that decides to worship turnips.  They develop a deep faith that turnips can cure everything, solve every problem, and make them tall, handsome, strong, and wise.  They write about the turnip in their news articles, carry turnip seeds and greens in their knapsacks, and develop an unshakable trust in turnips to produce a life of success, health, and happiness.  And when they die, they want to be buried, or cremated with…turnips!  Their faith is impeccably honest, unwavering, and sincere.  And they’re as crazy as bedbugs.

Faith is only as strong as the object of that faith.  Prayer is only powerful if you’re praying to the true source of power.  In the case of Moses, he tried to latch on to his heritage with faith in himself to make things right.  He broke up an argument between two of his people and it led to him forcing the issue and killing a soldier.  He became an exiled ex-royal because of his misplaced faith.  But, living on the back-side of nowhere’s wasteland, God spoke to him out of a burning bush.  And Moses placed his faith unreservedly in God’s hand.  It was then the mighty power of God began to work through the man who God would use.

For You Today

Faith, in self, or in turnips, may while away the days and give you something to do, but it will never lead to accomplishing the purpose for why God put you on this planet.  Make certain that your faith, and the purpose of your prayers, are sourced and secure in Jesus Christ.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:  God's Mountain - Moses' Faith and An Unusual Child      

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©