There is so much going on in this fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, frustrated – even scared! Truth is, life is not always easy. I know I have felt this same way many times. Sometimes, I have jumped into a big project – even completed some of them! – only to have it fail…no one wants to read that ebook that I spent months creating, dinner burned while I was trying to fix someone’s bun for dance class and the pile in the room that needs to be sorted seems to grow by the day…It’s easy to feel defeated and just give up. Trying to do it all on our own is the wrong way to approach things! We just can’t. Thankfully, God has a better plan!
Ask Him!
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:5-8 (NIV)
You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.
1 Peter 1:17 (MSG)
You see, God knew that we as fallible humans could not possibly comprehend all that He had planned! He knew before He promised Abraham, that the Israelites, His chosen people, would reject Him and His Messiah. So, He promised to stick around and help when we ask. All we need to do is call Him and He will come running every time! It doesn’t matter whether our difficulty is our own fault or the result of a world-wide pandemic…He will always come to our rescue! All we need to do is ask. He even showed that the religious leaders were led astray because they were too proud to ask questions (Matthew 22:46 MSG)!
Moses
In Exodus 5, we see Moses confronting Pharoah and, as God had said, Pharoah didn’t like it. He wound up making things even harder for Israel. So the people complained to Moses. Moses was still unsure of himself, unsure of his calling. So, he went to God and complained – Why did He even send him? It must have been confusing and overwhelming for him. He’d already failed – killing a man and running away – and now, the people weren’t sure they were ready to follow him…
But, you know what God did? He listened. And He responded to Moses! In Exodus 6 we see God’s response. He said, “Just wait, I’m going to win! Tell the people who I AM! I AM GOD! The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am the Strong God, I AM Present. Tell them, I am God. I hear you. I will redeem you. You are mine. And he tells us the same things today!
In Exodus 33:12-14, Moses was pretty blunt in his questions for God! He told God that He NEEDED to tell him what the plans were! He wanted more. He pointed out exactly what he needed – he needed to know where he was going in order to lead others. God’s response is priceless – “I’ll go with you!” And then He allowed Moses to see a small part of Him.
Several years ago, our family was taking a road trip to Disneyland. We were going to celebrate one of our daughters’ birthdays, but we didn’t tell them where we were going. We just had them both pack up clothes and loaded up the car. We kept telling them we were just going for a drive! They believed us for a while because we often did that. But, somewhere around dinner time they started wondering when we were going to be heading home. And, then we stopped at a hotel. They knew we were up to something, but we still wouldn’t tell them! It’s kinda fun to mess with your kids sometimes…Can’t you just see God here? He was not going to tell Moses what he wanted. Instead, He provided what Moses truly needed – to see God more clearly!
You see, God always knows exactly what we truly need! Sometimes what we think we need will only lead us off in the wrong direction. He will always provide us with what we need when we ask for help. Don’t ever be afraid to ask God your questions, just be prepared for an unexpected answer that is EXACTLY what you needed to hear or see. And like Moses, what we all truly need is to see Him more clearly!
