Faith

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

In Exodus chapter 14 there is a lesson of faith. In that passage, the nation of Israel reaches the point in their escape from Egypt where they are faced with crossing the Red Sea to get away from the army that pursues them. What many people do not see is the full context of that story. Earlier in the process, God tells Moses to camp near the Sea as if they are trapped by it. He says that He will use this opportunity to show to the world that He is God and Pharaoh will come after them. Moses and the entire nation did what they were told without question.

Later in the chapter, when the people of Israel start to see that Pharaoh is coming, they begin to get scared. In spite of the fact that they have a visible Angel before them that has been guiding them since they left. At that time, the Angel moved behind Israel to separate them from the army of Egypt. If you really think about it, this is a rather dramatic event. A literal wall of light on one side and darkness of night on the other. Would this be enough for you to go?

Some translations have a moment of interaction between God and Moses just before God tells him to stretch out his staff over the water. During this interaction, Moses is asking for direction and God basically says, why are you crying or complaining to me about this? In that interaction you can almost hear the frustration in God’s voice. He told Moses to take the nation forward. This direction included crossing the sea. Since Moses was reluctant, God told him to stretch out his staff over the water and as a result the sea parted.

At a much later time in the book of Joshua chapter 3, a similar event takes place. In this case God tells Joshua to send the Levites out into the water carrying the Ark. When they reach a point in the water God parts the sea again. In both cases, the people reached out to God for a physical sign that He was going to help them as they went forward. God had been taking care of this nation with a visible cloud of smoke during the day, and pillar of fire at night. Just as the rest of us grow complacent, these daily signs were not enough for the people. They cried out for a sign that they could cross the sea safely.

So, if we take a moment to consider what the Bible teaches about faith, it often speaks of God telling someone to go somewhere and they go. It is clear that God expects us to go forward on our journey, even if we don’t really know where or how we are going. Repeatedly the Bible shows God stepping in and healing or blessing when the people obey and go. Think about the story of the ten lepers who cried out to Jesus for healing. He responding not by touching them, but telling them to go and show themselves to the priest. At that time, showing themselves to the priest was a requirement to prove they had been healed. They were not healed until they started walking that direction. Maybe someone reading this needs to think about that. God may have told you to go to the doctor, but you’re not going because you’re afraid of what the doctor might say. The lepers did not get healing until they went.

Now, in James Chapter 2 around verse 14, the Bible starts to talk about faith. In those passages it reinforces the idea of faith and that it requires action. The evidence of a living faith is that it produces action. In the two previous cases, Moses and Joshua are considered men of great faith but even they had moments of doubt and God gave them physical things to obey in order to continue. He gave them signs but they had to follow with some action first.

So let’s consider modern times and travel. I am a car guy and I love to get out on the open road and drive. Especially in a classic car, windows down, low rumble of the engine and good music playing. The wind blowing, and life is good. Think for a moment, while I am driving how do I tell where I am going? Now before GPS I had to read the road signs right? I have a general idea the direction I am going, and the signs reinforce that I am going the right way.

While I am driving down the road enjoying the day, what must I do to read a road sign? I have to take my focus off of the direction I am going to read the sign on the side of the road. Then return my focus to my driving. This can cause distraction in heavy traffic or perhaps bad weather right?

During Jesus life on this Earth, one event is recorded in Matthew chapter 15. Jesus is being questioned about things to come and the people are generally asking him to prove what He is saying. He responds by saying a famous line “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, and none will be given to it…” Now there is far more to that passage and its context, but think about this.

God gives us direction. Not normally specifics, but He does expect us to take action on what He provides. He says to get up and go. So we are expected to do so. We keep taking our focus away from the direction we are traveling, and looking for the signs on the sides of the road to make us feel better about our direction of travel.

Back to Moses and Joshua. What do you think would have happened to Israel if neither of these men questioned God for a sign, but just moved forward? Do you think God would have let them drown in the sea? Of course not! When He sent them on their way he knew the sea was there and sent them to it anyhow. God wanted them to practice faith and go forward in spite of what was in front of them.

Think about your journey now. You have some form of direction from God. We all do because we have His word. We may not have all the little specifics, but we know what direction we are expected to travel. Instead of just taking God at His word and going, we keep stopping on the side of the road and asking God to put a sign where we can see it, so we know we are going the right way. God just said go.

What does the Bible say about the path before us? In Matthew chapter 7, the Bible talks about the path we are to walk. It says the path is narrow and not many take it. The scripture also says not to look to the left or right, but continue forward. Even if there are no signs. Sometimes the signs can be false. Haven’t you ever blindly followed the GPS and ended up in the wrong place? That is a whole other topic to share, but the jist is to stop looking to the sides of the road and focus on the path forward.

Consider this. Time was created as a way for us to understand our lives. God created time and He is outside of it, not bound by it. He can see all time at the same time. God created us and He created the road we are traveling on. He knew what was on that road before he put us on it. He knew what we were going to face and how we would react. He put us on the road to teach us to stop looking to the sides but forward, focusing on Him, His direction and Go!