January 22, 2006 - Exodus 4-6 and Matthew 14:22-36
This passage is all about faith or the lack of faith and how it effects our lives. Faith is trust. God wants us all to trust Him. We all have the ability to trust. It is simply a matter of what or who we will trust. God knows that trusting Him brings the best results for us, so He rewards faith. For the same reason He discourages unbelief or lack of faith. He knows that doubting Him leads to sin and destruction, so by punishing our unbelief He is seeking to help us not to hurt ourselves. However, it is all up to us, because we decide who or what we will trust.
Exodus 4-6 shows that Moses and the Hebrews had a hard time trusting God. Moses started telling God reasons why he could not deliver his people from Egypt. He finally told God to send someone else. (4:13) Even when God had given him signs, he could not fully trust God. However, Moses relented when God agreed to send Aaron to be his spokesman. I am not sure if it was the fact that Aaron would speak for him or the fact that someone was going with him that helped Moses the most. I do know that our faith is strengthened by fellowship with other believers. Anyway, they set off to Egypt with God's promises and assurance that He would deliver the Hebrews. When they got there the Hebrews believed what they said and worshiped God. (4:31) However, it was not long before they began to doubt God. (5:21) The extra work from Pharaoh caused them to complain instead of trusting God. This became a regular occurrence for the Hebrews. They had a problem with trusting God. Even when Moses prayed and God sent extra assurances, the people did not trust. (6:9) The trials led both Moses and the Hebrews to be discouraged. This was caused by a lack of trust. So, we might ask the question, why did God choose Moses and the Hebrews? Why didn't He choose someone with more faith? The answer is that trust is hard for everyone. We all have to put aside our pride and put our trust in God, but it is not easy. That is what makes it so great when we do trust and God blesses. It is something we could not have done ourselves or would not have done ourselves. God releases His power so we will trust Him more and more.
This same truth is evident in Matthew 14. Why did Jesus go to the mountain to pray? He was trusting the Father to show Him the way. Why did He send the disciples away, when He knew a storm was coming? He wanted to strengthen their faith by walking to them on the water. What was the result? Peter trusted Jesus for a while and walked on water. He did the impossible, until his fear of the wind and waves caused his trust to wane. Then, he sank. However, Jesus reached out to save Him immediately, because he was so happy about his trust. He wanted to show them that Peter sank, because of a lack of trust. (v.31) Then, Jesus healed the people who came and touched His clothes, because they did it in faith. They trusted that He could heal them. He wanted to reward their faith. He will do the same things for us today, because God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) I hope you are learning this truth about faith. I pray your faith is growing all the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 7-8 and Matthew 15:1-20.
Exodus 4-6 shows that Moses and the Hebrews had a hard time trusting God. Moses started telling God reasons why he could not deliver his people from Egypt. He finally told God to send someone else. (4:13) Even when God had given him signs, he could not fully trust God. However, Moses relented when God agreed to send Aaron to be his spokesman. I am not sure if it was the fact that Aaron would speak for him or the fact that someone was going with him that helped Moses the most. I do know that our faith is strengthened by fellowship with other believers. Anyway, they set off to Egypt with God's promises and assurance that He would deliver the Hebrews. When they got there the Hebrews believed what they said and worshiped God. (4:31) However, it was not long before they began to doubt God. (5:21) The extra work from Pharaoh caused them to complain instead of trusting God. This became a regular occurrence for the Hebrews. They had a problem with trusting God. Even when Moses prayed and God sent extra assurances, the people did not trust. (6:9) The trials led both Moses and the Hebrews to be discouraged. This was caused by a lack of trust. So, we might ask the question, why did God choose Moses and the Hebrews? Why didn't He choose someone with more faith? The answer is that trust is hard for everyone. We all have to put aside our pride and put our trust in God, but it is not easy. That is what makes it so great when we do trust and God blesses. It is something we could not have done ourselves or would not have done ourselves. God releases His power so we will trust Him more and more.
This same truth is evident in Matthew 14. Why did Jesus go to the mountain to pray? He was trusting the Father to show Him the way. Why did He send the disciples away, when He knew a storm was coming? He wanted to strengthen their faith by walking to them on the water. What was the result? Peter trusted Jesus for a while and walked on water. He did the impossible, until his fear of the wind and waves caused his trust to wane. Then, he sank. However, Jesus reached out to save Him immediately, because he was so happy about his trust. He wanted to show them that Peter sank, because of a lack of trust. (v.31) Then, Jesus healed the people who came and touched His clothes, because they did it in faith. They trusted that He could heal them. He wanted to reward their faith. He will do the same things for us today, because God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) I hope you are learning this truth about faith. I pray your faith is growing all the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 7-8 and Matthew 15:1-20.