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He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. (Hebrews 11:26-28 NLV). This morning when I looked outside I
noticed the evidence of “spring explosion.” Perhaps you have too. It’s not
really a matter of a date on the calendar, but some of the things that we see
around us that announce spring. For me it’s when the peach trees suddenly
blossom. Those pink flowers are the heralds of the changing of the season. Actually
none of this spring explosion of color is really sudden. Those flowers have been
getting ready to bloom for weeks; it's just that I couldn't see them until now.
There's a basic principle in how our creator God works. A lot of what He does is
invisible like the coming of spring, or the coming of a baby. It's quite a while
before we can actually see any evidence of a baby developing. In fact it takes a
test to verify that God's actually begun a new life. Again, God at work
invisibly. If you based it on what you could see, you'd conclude that God isn't
doing anything. In
our reading this morning the writer encourages us by this “invisible”
working of God on our behalf. The temptation to quit is so real that he wants us
to know that when we can’t see God at work, He still IS at work.
It is such a huge mistake to believe that God isn’t there just because
we can’t physically experience His presence. Maybe
you're making that same kind of mistake right now? Things seem increasingly out
of control; you're nearly swamped! You've been praying about it but Jesus isn't
doing anything about it. Or is He? His promise to us is that He “… is
working all things together for good to those who love God who are the called
according to His purpose." (Cf. Romans 8:28). Right now, through this
ongoing process He is working them together. God is preparing your answer for
you and you for your answer. But, like plants getting ready to bloom, and babies
getting ready to be born, much of Gods working is invisible. We mistake God
being invisible in our situation for God being inactive in our situation. He's
never inactive when it comes to the concerns of His children. Just as He protected and provided for the people in Moses’ day, so He will provide for you. Don't lose hope, don't lose faith now! One day soon you'll be ready to shout out the window, "It's spring again!" |
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