I am the Lord
Hello Bride of Christ,
Do you ever get to the end of your week and wonder, 'How did I make it?'
The feelings of exhaustion, being overwhelmed are not too detached from this thought. The endless tasks, errands, and especially the demands. I do not know about you, but with every passing week I feel like the demands at work, parenting, and life are just getting heavier and harder to complete.
Where do you go for your strength to make it to the end of the week?
Moses and the children of Israel are great examples of 'How did I make it?' testimonies. The book of Exodus as a whole can bear witness to this statement. However, for today I want to draw your attention to a particular section of Exodus. Read chapters 5-6 in Exodus.
How Did I Make It?
Starting in Exodus chapter 5 Moses and Aaron have their first encounter with Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go so they can go worship their God in the wilderness. Pharaoh's response to this request is one of annoyance, "Who is this Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go?" (Exodus 5:2)
So instead of letting the people of Israel go Pharaoh decided he would make their work harder. Pharaoh demanded the people of Israel make the same amount of bricks as they had always made, but now they would have to go get the straw required to make bricks themselves. Essentially doubling their work because now they had to gather straw AND make bricks. How did the children of Israel respond?
Well let me tell you not like a bunch of happy campers! They turned to Moses and Aaron and said to them "Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us." (Exodus 5:21) Yes, very dramatic!
It was such a harsh response to Moses and Aaron that Moses returned to the Lord to ask Him "Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me" (Exodus 5:22) Moses was beginning to question himself and what he heard the Lord tell him.
Answer
Then comes the Lord's amazing response in Exodus chapter 6, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land...I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them." (Exodus 6:1-3)
God's words to Moses are so insightful. He reminded Moses to watch Him. God did not need Moses to understand why the trouble came or fully understand why He had sent Moses to speak. God needed Moses to watch and see that the Lord will. God wanted Moses, children of Israel, and Pharaoh to know Him as LORD.
Lord in the Hebrew is Adonai, which means the absolute. The eternal. The independent existing one.
God desired to deepen His relationship with His people. He no longer wanted them to only know Him as the Almighty God, El Shaddai, who would multiply them and prosper them, as their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, knew Him. He was taking them into a deeper relationship.
So the Lord turns to Moses and says to him "Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord." (Exodus 6:6-8)
Response
Bride of Christ, so the answer to 'How did I make it?' simply is because of the Lord. The Lord's will allows us to be brought out, rescued, redeemed, taken, and able to receive. Because He is the Lord, the absolute one, nothing else can or will ever give us the strength we need to overcome this life's demands. So how do we respond to this miraculous occurrence?
Well I would encourage you to NOT respond like the children of Israel; for when Moses delivered the message the text reads "they did not heed Moses, because of the anguish of spirit and cruel bondage." (Exodus 6:9) Instead, I encourage you to look up and not allow the demands of this life keep you from hearing truth and seeing the Lord show up in your life not only as Almighty God but also one step further as LORD, the one that will do everything and all things for you because you are His children and He is your God!
