The Only Way Forward
By Jack Wyman
You’ve got to admit it.
This guy had moxie.
Anyone who takes on God directly—to his face, up close and personal—is either foolish, oblivious, blasphemous—or supremely confident of his position.
Or perhaps he’s nuts.
Here was another conversation between friends.
Moses talked with God with a greater familiarity than most.
Inside the so-called Tent of Meeting, God and Moses would come together and hash things out. In that sacred place of divine intimacy, “the Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11).
Face to face—with God.
Moses had come this time with what was, for him, a non-negotiable. God was angry with Israel. He’d had enough of his chosen people’s cynical cycle of sin, confession, repentance—and sin again. He told Moses, their leader, that he was done. He’d send an angel to go with them into the Promised Land. His anger was so great that the God of infinite patience seemed to have none left.
God would not go with them.
“I will not travel among you,” God tells Moses to tell the Israelites, “for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way. . . If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you” (Exodus 33: 3, 5, emphasis added).
Wow! That may have been as close to being out of control as God’s ever come (don’t hold me responsible for what I might do!).
Moses, chosen by God through a burning bush and commissioned to lead a great enslaved people out of bondage, comes now before God to plead their case, weak as it is.
Moses reminds God of God’s favor upon him—of the consistently intimate relationship they’ve enjoyed through the trials of leading a contrary and wayward people. For Moses, the guiding angel is not enough. He wants God himself to go with them—and no one else. He must have the divine presence.
“If you don’t personally go with us,” Moses pleads, “don’t make us leave this place” (Exodus 33:15). We’d rather remain in this wilderness and perish than try and enter the Promised Land without you.
With God, to the ends of the earth. Without him, not across the street.
David, in the dark depths of his brokenness and contrition, cried out to God, imploring the Lord not to leave him. “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11).
God’s presence? Indispensable.
How are you doing? This year? So far?
Are you carefully planning and organizing yourself in such a way that your hopes may be fail-safe against the often unsettling and uncertain vicissitudes of life? You can’t. None of us can. If we don’t know what will happen in the next five minutes, how can we protect ourselves against the unknowns of this coming year?
Hopefully, you’re not going through this next year alone.
Health. Family. Money. Politics. Our nation. The world. We know nothing for sure. Divisions mount. Tensions multiply. Fears threaten. Complexities deepen. Uncertainty and doubt spread their tentacles throughout all of a despairing and trembling civilization.
In times like these, we need hope. We need joy. We need courage and confidence. We need Immanuel. We need God with us. We need Jesus Christ in us. This reality, says Paul, is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
What we need most is what we can have.
God will never leave us. He will never forsake us. Though the mountains crumble to the sea; though the nations rage and the earth melt, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:7).
He who is the same yesterday, today, and forever wants to walk with us through December 31 and beyond. If we’ll have him as our friend and traveling companion.
Let’s resist false saviors. Let’s reject unfounded conspiracies. Let’s stop condemning those who threaten us. Let’s stop fearing the unknown, politics, the future, and everything else we can’t control. For Christians to live as practical atheists is to hold God in contempt.
We must not simply say we trust God. We must live daily in that trust. With all our hearts; every fiber of our being. He sees what we cannot. He does what we cannot. He understands what we cannot. He controls what we cannot. His way is certain, his plan complete, his path safe, and his will perfect.
God is too kind to ever be cruel. He’s too wise to ever make a mistake.
“The future,” said Charles Spurgeon, “is as bright as the promises of God.”
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you” (Isaiah 41:10).
The greatest command Jesus ever gave us was accompanied by his greatest promise. “I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28: 20).
Moses and God? God changed his mind. He went with his people.
He guided them, protected them, chastened them, taught them, and always loved them. Aren’t you glad he did? Aren’t you glad he still does?
Listen to God this year. Trust his way, obey his word, and seek his worship.
Be still. Know he is God. Go with him.
For the Christian, it’s the only way forward.
To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.
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