Wanted to Share

The situation was bad to start with. The ruthless brutality of Egyptian slave drivers held tight rein over the Israelites, forcing them forward in their production of bricks and mortar. The blessing once given to the Israelite forefathers had been forgotten as a fledgling nation grew. A new Pharaoh called for the massacre of newborn little boys – something the Israelites defied. As the years wore on, the young nation though continued to live with its oppression. God calls Moses to bring deliverance to the people, but attempts to reason with Pharaoh are met with increased demands and brutality. In turn, Moses and his brother Aaron are blamed by the Israelites for their unmerciful condition. Hopeless with the despair of the people, the seeming failure of his own leadership, and the apparent inactivity of the God who called him, Moses laments in anguish, “God, why??”

The tragedies of life leave us with the same question, “God, why??” Let me suggest that we change our question, because it is a question that we may not get an answer to, and truthfully, we really don’t need an answer to “why,” but we do need an answer to, “God, where??” Where can I go in my hopelessness? To that question, there is an answer, and it is an invitation from our loving God who truly has not forgotten us. God says, “Come.” “Come to Me.” Just like Moses, come with honesty, with your fears, your questions, your anxieties, your disappointments – but, come. Hopelessness leaves us sinking in a bottomless pit, enveloped in its darkness. It is a despair that sees no alternatives, and no way through. It is a despair that wants to give up. But God says, “Come.” In Moses’ impossible situation, he went to God, and he found out that God was still there, and God was still in control, and God cared. “I am God,” He said. “I have heard the groaning of the people. I will redeem you. I will make you My own special people, and I will be your God.” When I come to God, He tells me I can rest. Rest is found in the quietness of His presence and in the grace of His promises – not “fix-it” promises, but promises of strength, of love, of wisdom, of peace. And when we’ve answered God’s invitation, we find it was our hopelessness that brought us to the path that led us to our God.

Source: Bev @ Thoughts Under the Umbrella
http://www.umbrellaministries.org/