Friday,
February 17, 2023
It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command. 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 11:23-28
It's a whole lot easier to entertain
faith from an easy chair, or from a pew in the sanctuary. It is in those safe places faith seems
workable. It is in protected comfort we
plan how living by faith will work, and we plot our course to build a life of
fellowship with God…to be a good person.
We can see it all laid out in our minds; we even jot it down in a
journal. We can see a future that makes
sense.
And that’s just the problem…we see
it! Seeing
is not Faith! Acting on a promise, without having the end,
and how it will all work, is trusting…and trusting, without seeing, is the
heart and soul of faith. If you require
knowing the beginning point, the end, and all the steps you will take
in-between, perfectly laid-out, charted, with PowerPoint displays and
checklists, you’re no closer to faith than an iceberg surviving in the fiery
furnace!
But what if you’re bent that
way? What if you’re an introverted
thinker, one who makes to-do lists, and wants to plan-the-work
and work-the-plan?
Are you irrevocably-doomed to the abyss?
(I am that sort of person; welcome to my world!) According to Jesus, looking ahead to count
the cost isn’t wrong; in fact, it’s an integral part of the process
if you want to be His disciple![1]
So where does counting the cost end,
and faith begin? When do you stop
contemplating God and His call on your life, and begin cooperating with Jesus
in whatever He puts in front of you. Or
do you just totally put-aside thinking and just begin doing? Those are some good questions, but looking
for a timetable for thinking and doing, evades the trust issue of faith…and
trust is the key.
Remember Moses. He had plenty of time for thinking about God,
and searching for God’s will. Growing up
in a palace, power at his fingertips, this Jewish boy, hiding in Egyptian
clothing, had a heart that was on fire for God.
Every choice he made was pointed towards worshipping Almighty God. He never rejected meditating on God, or
making plans (just look at plans for the wilderness Tabernacle). But he was always ready, without a moment’s
notice, to step-out into the uncharted waters of change. He did count the cost, and he found out early
that he would make mistakes (he killed an Egyptian soldier, and had to spend the
next forty years on the backside of nowhere).
But he also knew an unconditional heart’s commitment to God’s ways. To the casual observer, every decision Moses
made was towards the downward spiral.
Exile, hardship, poverty, and the anger of Pharaoh, instead of power,
luxury, and fame was his counting the cost…and walking by faith in the God who
called him was always the choice.
For You Today
When you serve the King of Kings, walking by
faith needs no other vision.
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 and
By Faith
Images: Title Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal
property of the author, or in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
