The Difficult “Yes”

So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.” – Exodus 5:22-23

As I am reading through the One Year Bible plan I have come to the story of Moses in Exodus. God reveals Himself to Moses and tells him that he will be used to bring freedom to his people. Best news ever! The challenge is, Moses has to go before Pharaoh and convince him to let more than two million slaves go free. Immediately Moses asks God, “Who am I to do this?” God assures Moses that He will be with him, so Moses then goes on to try to get out of it, “They won’t listen to me,” and “I’ve never been good at speaking”.

I’ve heard Moses criticized for having the audacity to question God when God is showing up so powerfully. I, however, relate to Moses. I’ve never been asked to go before a national leader, nor have I been asked to bring freedom to millions, but God has asked me to obey Him in areas that felt too difficult to say yes to. Just this month I had specific things that I felt compelled to surrender. They were things that in the past I’ve had a lot of excuses as to why I couldn’t lay them down.

Here’s the thing, life is often more difficult immediately following the obedience. Moses went to Pharaoh and Pharaoh said “NO!”. Not only that, but Pharaoh made life even more hellish for the slaves. His own people asked Moses to leave them alone and stop fighting for their cause because they didn’t want to bear the wrath of Pharaoh. Can you imagine how defeated Moses felt after this?

One of the first things that God told Moses was “I will certainly be with you”. This must have been what Moses held onto as he persisted in fighting for freedom. If we trust that God is good and that He will never leave us or forsake us, we can trust that He will be with us in what He calls us to do. The first week of January, after I laid some things down, I was tempted to pick them back up because they made “life easier”. Had I done that, I never would have experienced the fullness of life that God was leading me into.

What has God asked you to do that you make excuses for? It’s not easy, but worth fighting for your freedom and God certainly will be with you.