Welcome to 2020.
This year simultaneously feels like it’s just beginning and that it’s been going on for years. If there was any doubt, the numerous memes expressing the dismay of 2020 would clear that right up.
In the last few months, seasons and circumstances have been on my mind a lot, especially when we had the nice, warmer days of spring peaking out among the cold.
Spring is truly my favorite season. I enjoy the newness of life and growth we get to see within nature, and after a long winter, the start of something warmer is welcome. The “fresh start” of spring is appealing and energizing. Especially when we’re in the midst of a stay at home order.
As life spins out of control for so many, I am thankful that creation is not phased. Flowers are still blooming, grass is growing, and birds are singing. They know nothing of COVID-19 and the changes it has brought.
Of course, seasons also relate to the ups and downs we experience, not just weather.
I’ve been reading in Exodus lately, and I’ve been struck by how easy it can be to focus on details and circumstances and be discouraged. If we take a snapshot of what we’re experiencing (COVID-19), it often doesn’t look great—we lack the context surrounding the circumstance. Obviously, this virus is devastating and very real. The impacts of it will last far beyond the stay at home order. However, I want to offer encouragement in the midst of this confusing time.
In Exodus, we see that the beginning of Moses’ life is complicated, yet hope is woven throughout. Here’s an early example:
[The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.]
Exodus 1:15-17 (NIV)
At the beginning of the very next chapter, Moses is born. In a time of turmoil and slavery, Moses gets to live and is blessed as he grows up. The Pharaoh, motivated by fear, had determined that the Israelite people needed to be stopped and hindered, yet God intercedes on their behalf and more Israelites continue to be born. Although Moses does not grow up with his family, he is alive and well.
What do we focus on here? There are two clear realities: The fact that Moses lives, and the fact that he doesn’t get to grow up with his biological family.
If we focus on the fact that he is separated from his original family, we may be inclined to ignore the other piece: That Moses lives and becomes a man led by God to accomplish incredible things.
When we focus on our circumstances rather than on the character of God, we’re likely to dwell on the negative. We also put pressure on ourselves to do enough or try to be enough.
In Exodus 3, God speaks to Moses directly (via the burning bush) and calls Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. But what is Moses’ response?
[Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”]
-Exodus 3:10-13
Do you see the crippling doubt here? Moses is too focused upon his own inadequacy to look directly at who God is. Between these two instances, and the ones directly before it, Moses objects to God’s call for him five times. Five!
When we focus solely on what is directly before us, what we are asked to do can seem impossible. If we are willing to look beyond ourselves, we get to see God powerfully work through us in spite of the opposition we may raise up.
This is timely for me right now. My husband and I are in the midst of transition—of taking on a new role in ministry that in many ways feels beyond our natural strengths. There is uncertainty and fear as we move forward.
However, in reading Moses’ call from God, I am reminded that He is not concerned with our limits. If I believe that the Lord has called Cully and I to this role, what is there to fear?
This does not mean the path will be simple or easy. God has continued to affirm this path for us in the next season of life, yet there are still pieces we do not know. We are committing to this role for four years, and I can’t begin to conceive of the ways God will show me His faithfulness in the midst of my questions and hesitations. When I focus on who God is rather than my abilities, I am met with peace.
What aspect of your circumstances are you struggling to look past today? My prayer is that we would look upward in the midst of changing seasons and challenging realities, that we would be quick to trust the Lord in faith, even in confusion, as He guides our path.
Carmen
A few more related verses to bring encouragement:
Isaiah 43:19:
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
2 Cor 12:9-10:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
