One Year Bible - February 11
Scriptures to read:
Hebrews 8; Exodus 5:1-6:27; Proverbs 1
I’m a sucker for Hallmark movies. Yes I realize they’re low quality, lacking in depth, and oh so predictable, but despite those things I still enjoy them. In fact, I actually think their predictability is one of the reasons I keep coming back to them. It’s nice to know that although the story may be set in a different city with a slightly different female protagonist, it will probably end just the way I want and expected it to.
The problem with Hallmark movies, though, is that they’re very far from reality. The stories of our life are rarely as predictable or heartwarming as what you can watch on cable TV. There are often scenes in our lives that leave us wondering, why is this happening? How can this possibly all work out in the end?
In our Exodus chapters today, Moses experiences that. In Exodus 3, God had made it very clear that He wanted Moses to go to Pharaoh to obtain freedom for the nation of Israel. In fear Moses argues with the Lord’s call, and only after much reassurance does Moses agree to go. Despite his initial resistance, it seems like everything is going to work out just fine. God has promised to be with him and to work through him.
But then we get to Exodus 5, and all the confidence Moses had in the Lord crumbles. He obeys God, doing exactly what he had been told to do, but the results are disastrous. Israel isn’t freed -- quite the opposite, their bondage becomes more intense and Moses is even less favorable. In this unexpected turn of events, Moses is left deeply questioning. He thought he knew what God was going to do. How is God possibly going to work this out now?
The stories God writes often end up so much different than we predict. We think we know the way He’ll take us and where we’ll end up, but then our lives turn out so different than we expected. I know this - and you may know this - from experience. Sometimes God’s stories don’t make sense to us, at least not in the moments we’re living them. Like Moses, we cry out, “Why? How can this possibly work out??”
These chapters end today without resolution, without that Hallmark-worthy predictable ending. It feels like so many things have gone wrong and there’s not a lot of hope for a happy ending. Yet I’m reminded in chapter 6, just like Moses was, that “I AM the Lord.” God’s plans for freeing Israel have not been thwarted by these circumstances. He is still working and redemption is still coming for Israel.
More often than not, our lives turn out differently than we think they will. Circumstances can feel like a disaster; we don’t understand how these things can possibly work out in the end. But God does. It may not look like it now, but God is writing a story of redemption, and we can trust that His ending will be so much better than anything we would ever predict ourselves.
Memory Verse: And God said, ”I will be with you.” - Exodus 3:12a
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your creativity and sovereignty in the stories you write for us. Help us to remember that You Are, and that You are working to bring all things together for our good when we obey You. Amen.
