God Uses Troubles to Teach Trust in Him - Exodus 4-6 and Matthew 14:22-36
Many people are driven away from God by their troubles, but God does not mean for us to see them that way. God wants us to see each trouble as an opportunity to trust Him for the perfect solution. I think we can see this truth very well in these passages.
Moses was worried because he could see a lot of potential problems when he went to the Egyptians and asked for them to let God's people go. What if they did not believe what he said? What if he could not speak well enough? God tried to assure him that He could take care of these problems, but He ended up sending Aaron to help, because of Moses' lack of trust. Moses was like us in that he had a hard time believing that God could use him to accomplish great things. That is why God showed him the rod and the snake, as well as the water and the blood. He wanted to take these problems and turn them into an opportunity to trust Him.
The situation with the quota of bricks being kept the same while the people had to gather their own straw is a similar lesson. The trouble was to be temporary. God was trying to show the people to trust Him and His plan. They had a hard time, because they did not want to go through any pain for the Lord's cause. If we do not have some pain, we will never be able to see God work His greatest miracles. If we allow God to inflict some pain and then, get us out of it, we will truly see the power of God. However, it takes us trusting God to bring the best results.
Jesus sent His disciples out into a stormy sea in Matthew 14. Why did He do that? Did He not care about them? Yes, He cared. He wanted to come walking to them on the water in the middle of the storm to show His power. He wanted to show them that they did not need to be afraid. He could not have made His point without allowing the trouble to arise. Then, He used it to have Peter walk on the water, too. However, what caused Peter to sink? It was when He quit looking at Jesus and started focusing on the waves and wind. That is why we have troubles in life. It is to show us that we need to focus on Jesus and not on the troubles. This teaches trust. How are you doing when it comes to learning trust through the troubles of life?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 7-8 and Matthew 15:1-20.
Moses was worried because he could see a lot of potential problems when he went to the Egyptians and asked for them to let God's people go. What if they did not believe what he said? What if he could not speak well enough? God tried to assure him that He could take care of these problems, but He ended up sending Aaron to help, because of Moses' lack of trust. Moses was like us in that he had a hard time believing that God could use him to accomplish great things. That is why God showed him the rod and the snake, as well as the water and the blood. He wanted to take these problems and turn them into an opportunity to trust Him.
The situation with the quota of bricks being kept the same while the people had to gather their own straw is a similar lesson. The trouble was to be temporary. God was trying to show the people to trust Him and His plan. They had a hard time, because they did not want to go through any pain for the Lord's cause. If we do not have some pain, we will never be able to see God work His greatest miracles. If we allow God to inflict some pain and then, get us out of it, we will truly see the power of God. However, it takes us trusting God to bring the best results.
Jesus sent His disciples out into a stormy sea in Matthew 14. Why did He do that? Did He not care about them? Yes, He cared. He wanted to come walking to them on the water in the middle of the storm to show His power. He wanted to show them that they did not need to be afraid. He could not have made His point without allowing the trouble to arise. Then, He used it to have Peter walk on the water, too. However, what caused Peter to sink? It was when He quit looking at Jesus and started focusing on the waves and wind. That is why we have troubles in life. It is to show us that we need to focus on Jesus and not on the troubles. This teaches trust. How are you doing when it comes to learning trust through the troubles of life?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 7-8 and Matthew 15:1-20.