Exodus 3 and 4

When our second child was just a couple weeks old my husband approached me with a radical idea. “I’m going to start applying for other jobs out of state.” My then sleep deprived state keeps me from recalling my exact reaction, but I’m positive laughter was involved. We had a brand new baby, a two-year-old, two full time jobs, my entire extended family within an hour of us, and it was all in a place I had lived my whole life. Yeah...okay, we’ll leave everything here and start over somewhere far away. What a funny guy!

Then I realized he was serious, and “resistance” doesn’t do justice to my true reaction to the news.

Moses had been “burned” by the people of Egypt (Exodus 2:11-15), and he had been living in the wilderness for 40 years when he came across the burning bush and God’s message of action. Moses' first reaction wasn’t one of eager excitement, and he responded with a reluctant, “Why me?” Moses’ list of reasons why he wasn’t the man for the job grows in Exodus 4, and God counters each item on the list with signs of power and assurance that God almighty would take care of everything. Still Moses comes back with, “Hard pass! Send someone else.” (My paraphrase.) 

Was Moses afraid? He had murdered an Egyptian and then ran for his life 40 years prior, so it’s reasonable to assume fear played a part in his resistance to God’s ask. Was Moses comfortable where he was, even in the wilderness? After living anywhere for 40 years there’s bound to be some level of comfort--at the very least acceptance of--with one’s circumstances. I had lived in the same small town for 27 years, and the idea of moving across the country with my young family to a city where we knew no one was terrifying. God might as well have asked me to go back in time to confront Pharaoh with Moses, because in my mind both were in the same realm of impossibility!

Sometimes it’s easier to stay put than to try something new, even when we know it’s the right thing. Action takes energy and courage. Action requires risk! My reasons for not wanting to relocate grew as quickly as Moses’ list, and God responded to me in the same way he had to Moses. I was met with reassurances and the knowledge that He would take care of us no matter where we lived. His response to you is the same!

As we look forward to the new year (hopefully) bringing us back to a sense of normalcy, is there an area of your life where you hear God asking you to take action? So much about the last ten months has been different for us, but perhaps the “routine” of upheaval has lulled us into a state of apathy. Are you *too* comfortable in your current state? Is fear keeping you from taking action where God has asked you to?