LifeLink Devotions for Friday, September 20, 2024

I have a little card on my desk that was given to me by a dear old woman of God who is now with Jesus in glory. The card simply says, “God is bigger than any problem I have.”  I find that easier to believe when the problem is not of my own making. When others falsely accuse me of things, or when circumstances of life turn ugly, I know God is bigger than all of that and He will work it all out for His glory and my growth. But when I know I am responsible for the problem because of my own weakness or lack of wisdom and poor choices, then guilt and shame tend to dim my faith in the greatness of God. My natural tendency is to run and hide in a place of pity and self-condemnation.

If I do run to that place, the guilt is allowed to devalue my life and convince me that nothing will ever be right again. Then the aspect of human nature called survival takes over and causes me to take control of the situation and try to fix it so that I can gain back my value. What a mess it all becomes, simply because I did not believe in the first place that God is bigger than ANY problem I have.

As we move on from the life of Abraham in our study on faith, we come to the story of Moses, who also had the same problem I just described.

Exodus 2:11-15 “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian.”

Moses ran from a seemingly insurmountable problem. He ran for forty years. But God was not done with him. One day God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, He called him to an incredible task that was based on God’s greatness not on Moses’ past. I find great comfort in this. It does not excuse unwise choices, as Moses would learn later. There will be consequences for failure, but God is greater than any problem we have. The purpose of God is greater than any problem and no problem can stop God’s plan. God told Moses that he would lead the people out of Egypt, and they would worship God at the very place of the burning bush. The power of God is greater than any problem and no problem has the power to overwhelm God. God gave Moses a staff to represent His power, and even though the world tried to duplicate its power, God’s power overcame it all. God met every one of Moses’ objections to being the chosen deliverer by emphasizing faith in His greatness. Moses believed and was restored. He became the man that God spoke to face to face.

Did he still have weakness? Yes. Did he still fail? Yes. Did God’s greatness cease to overcome all of it? NO! God is greater than any problem Moses created. He is greater than any problem we have created as well. Turn to Him in faith and trust His purpose and power. He will overcome it all and will restore you to intimate relationship and equip you for important responsibilities. Quit running. Let the fire of God cleanse you from your past and set you on a path of faithfulness. 

Pastor John