Perspective

I’ve been really tired this week. It’s mainly my own fault for burning the candle at both ends. But sometimes when I’m tired, I feel whiny and complainy and restless. I feel like my life isn’t exactly how I'd like it to be.

Yesterday at Good News Club I taught a lesson about Moses. We were in the part of the story where he was leaving the Midian desert and heading back to Egypt to free his people. Moses was a hesitant servant. From the start he was dragging his feet and making excuses. But finally after God pretty much blasts him with the “I AM GOD” speech, Moses reluctantly goes.

When Moses gets to Egypt, he does a few miracles, which get his own people on his side. Then he goes before Pharaoh. But instead of Pharaoh going along with “the plan” and letting the people go, he makes them work harder. He takes away their straw but demands they make the same amount of bricks.

You can imagine how popular this made Moses with his people. You can almost hear them: “Thanks a lot, Moses. Deliver us? Yeah, right. Why don’t you go back to the desert where you came from? We don’t want your 'savior complex' around here.”

Ouch.

Then Moses loses it. He says, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

You can read God’s response in Exodus 6, but basically He once again reminds Moses that He is God and has not forgotten his people. I encouraged the kids to trust God even when they don’t understand what He is doing.

Mackenzie raised her hand. “A boy in my class died on Monday," she said. I had heard that a third grade boy died after experiencing an allergic reaction to something he ate at the school Halloween party. When the kids quieted down, I told them that this was exactly the kind of situation that is hard to understand but God asks us to trust Him anyway. They wanted to pray about it, so we did. I was humbled — my petty grievances paled in comparison.

After Club I thought about this issue of trust. God easily could have made Pharoah say yes the first time Moses asked. But God wanted to challenge Moses and the people to really trust Him. He wanted to do things in a way that would leave no doubt of WHO got them out of Egypt. Sometimes I get down because it seems God’s timing is off or He’s putting a roadblock in the way of my plans, but this story forced me to consider that He may hold off on blessing my life or “delivering” me because He’s waiting for full trust and obedience. And, in truth, when I focus on trusting Him, the whiny, complainy, restless moments decrease.

It’s all about a proper perspective.