Do You Believe God?

Holy Spirit has a way of breathing fresh insight and life into the Bible for us to see as we study it, confirming that it IS INDEED the Living Word of God. Which is why it is so important to study God’s Word so that we can store it in our hearts for appropriate times in order for us to draw out that “Living Water Word” by Holy Spirit who (as our Teacher and Guide) can bring it to remembrance as we encounter different and difficult situations in our lives in today’s world.

For instance, as I was driving, Holy Spirit brought front and center to my mind, Moses and the parting of the Red Sea…. When I asked Holy Spirit why it was that He wanted me to reflect on that part of scripture, He softly said:

“What has been in the past is relevant to what is occurring in the present, I allow the “Red Seas” to present themselves in your life to see if (as was in the case with my Servant Moses), you will believe that I am able to part even the most trying of situations where you see no solution, or (if like the children of Israel), you will lose faith and complain about how far I have brought you and question Me as to the why of it.  Will you doubt Me? Not stand in faith, believing that I am STILL able to part ANY “Red Sea” that takes place in your life? I AM STILL I AM.  I am NOT “I was” I Am that I Am and I STILL Can.  The level of your belief is the level of your faith in what you will allow Me to bring you through.”

My heart rejoiced at Holy Spirit’s words because many times we read the Word of God and we look at everything as something that occurred in the past, but harbor doubt as to the relevance of it “today.” So, I ask you (as I found myself asking myself):

“Do you believe God?”

Moses was a person, the same as you and me, Moses had insecurities (as shown when God was instructing Him) as to what He wanted Moses to do, and He was honest and voiced his concerns at the calling God wanted Him to fulfill with honesty. It is okay to speak honestly with God, He’s not insulted or surprised by your honesty, Psalm 139:1-6 says:

“Lord, you have examined me, and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.  You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word, You already know it. You are all around me—in front and in back— and have put Your hand on me. Your knowledge is amazing to me; it is more than I can understand.” 

Since God knows our thoughts before we even think them, WHY would we even TRY to hide them from Him?  Moses was honest with God about His doubts regarding his ability to handle what it was that God  had called him to do (which was to free the Israelites from the Egyptians) and although Moses remarks angered God, (or to me it sounds like God was more annoyed by it than anything else… maybe similarly to how a child irritates a parent by questioning a task a parent is asking them to do instead of just obeying them and doing it…) God heard Moses and gave him Aaron (Moses’ brother to assist in what God was asking Moses to do) . See Exodus 4:10:

“Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.  You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.  He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

God is so patient with us!  What a patient Father we have! The truth of the matter is, we can do NOTHING in and of our own accord, God calls us to be vessels FOR HIM.  That’s it… What a privilege to be used by God to accomplish His good and perfect will.  It’s not as if God REALLY NEEDS us to do something, God DOESN’T NEED US, this is the same God Who in the book of Genesis spoke the world into being!  He doesn’t NEED us to do anything, but He chooses to use people to do His good and perfect will.  And to be honest, there truly is NO greater joy in recognizing that God has created us for a purpose.  I can attest that there really is NO greater joy than seeking God through prayer and finding out just what that purpose is…  Do you want to know what your life’s purpose is? ASK HIM.

ASK HIM and watch Him reveal it to you.  He’s waiting for you to do JUST that.  But you have to ask… You have to be willing… You have to believe that if you are open to it, that God WILL fulfill His good and perfect purpose for your life – it is why He created you with certain gifts (talents).  There really is nothing more satisfying than discovering and fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. But here is the thing, it isn’t YOU doing anything. It is God doing His work through the vessel of you.

God used Moses (as His willing vessel) to part the Red Sea.  God parted.  God did it.  Through Moses. Moses, even in his own insecurity submitted himself to do the will of God. He allowed God to do a work within Him and because of that, God used Moses to free the Israelites from the Egyptians and part the Red Sea.

In order for that to happen, Moses had to BELIEVE God.  So, I ask you to think about this question:

Do YOU believe God?

When you journey through life and come to areas where you are hemmed in, don’t see a way of escape, unsure how to continue on, are surrounded by feelings of doubt, don’t see a way out, how do YOU choose respond?  Everything in the physical realm indicated to the Israelites that the Egyptians were going to be recaptured and/or killed. Filled with fear and anxiety (even though they had already SEEN what God had done), they grumbled and complained to Moses in Exodus 14:10-12:

“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” “

When you come to a “Red Sea” before you, dire circumstances behind you type of situation, how do YOU respond? Do you grumble and complain to God (as the Israelites did with Moses)?  Or do you believe God is able to make a way forward?  Do you walk in doubt?  Or do you walk in faith? Do you reflect on previous times when God made a way for you in the past? Or do stand like a deer in headlights frozen by the situation?

I noticed, as I re-read the Red Sea passage, that even before Pharoah and the Egyptians had decided to pursue Moses and the Israelites, God revealed to Moses (in advance of it happening) what it was that was going to happen, what it was He planned to do.  (See Exodus 14:1 below):

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.”

And I raised an amused eyebrow when Moses responded to the Israelites complaining and grumbling by saying to them in Exodus 14:13:

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 

I raised an amused eyebrow because directly after that verse (probably unbeknown to the Israelites), God was having a conversation with Moses, asking him the following: “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on!” How many times have we spoken things to others trying ourselves to believe (have faith) in what we are speaking – words not only for others, but for our OWN selves?  (I know I have… 🙂 ) Take a look at Exodus 14:14-18:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

Moses stretched out his hand (as God had requested) over the sea, but it was God who drove the sea back.  It was God who divided the waters and it was God who made it possible for the Israelites to go forward on dry ground. Can you imagine what was going through their minds? Well Exodus 14:31 actually tells us what the results were in the minds of the Israelites:

“And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.”

What do you believe God is capable in doing for you?  Do you believe in His capability to bring you through whatever comes your way? God is not a God that He would lie.  He IS the great I AM and what He has done, as indicated of His actions in the Scriptures in the past, He is more than capable of doing in the present.  We only just need to believe… JUST believe.