How well do we really know the needs of those around us? I am a talker… I could talk the paint off the walls, & I could connect with almost anyone in some way, shape or form. I have this habit, I don’t know that it is necessarily qualified as a habit, but it is something I routinely do. My wife will often be in the middle of the story, & I automatically assume I know where the story is headed, so I jump in & finish the sentence for her…. (such a nice guy, right?)…. well, would it surprise you to know, I am often wrong. I’m not sure why I do this, but I do it a good amount. I have started to see that it is an issue, & I do apologize to my wife for interrupting her. Sadly, this has passd on to my children to, so it isn’t totally uncommon for 3 conversations to be going in a house with only 4 people….. I think I know what my wife will say, or what my children are doing, so I fill in the rest of the story, instead of listening.
Did you know that God knows what we need, before we even ask? It is one of my favorite statements Jesus makes in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5-7. It is such a comfort for me that we have a Heavenly Father who KNOWS what we need, before we even know of the need. How comforting that is! We may read this verse & question if that is truly a true statement. I mean, how can we verify the truth of that statement? Well today I am going to do just that. Let’s go to Exodus 4 where we see in at least 2 instances, this statement rings true.
In Exodus 4 we find Moses on Mount Sinai (referred to as Mount Horeb in this passage) tending to some sheep for his Father-in-law Jethro. Moses was tending to the sheep when he notices a bush being burned, but not being consumed by the fire. Moses, then proceeds to leave the sheep & go see what is happening. He gets closer, the bush starts talking to him & he removes his sandals (Putting himself in a very vulnerable position in the desert, might I add). I have always chuckled at the fact that Moses doesn’t seem stunned to have a talking, burning, non-consuming bush in his life, but I digress.
The LORD tells Moses what Moses is being called to, & we’ll see Moses has countless excuses as to why he cannot be the one to go. Moses is to go back to Israel, after a 40 year hiatus to free God’s chosen people from their oppressor, Pharaoh. Moses gives God 5 main excuses, ranging from unbelief on the Israelites side, uncertainty on which God is sending him, to talking about not being eloquent in speech to just plainly saying, “Send anyone else, I don’t want to go!”. That is where we pick up the story in chapter 4.
I don’t necessarily blame Moses. Remember, the last time he was in Egypt, his anger took over & he killed an Egyptian guard & he was a wanted man, so he has every right to fear returning. However, God does mention that everyone who wanted him dead is now dead themselves, so he can return safely. Moses also brings up that he is poor in speech. Scholars have debated what this means, & while some may disagree, most settle to agree that he may have had a stutter of some sort. Imagine this, you are Moses & you return to Egypt to tell the Israelites that you were sent by a talking plant, & that you are the mouthpiece of the LORD, Yahweh! Oh, by the way, you probably have a stutter of some kind… Imagine being God’s mouthpiece, but not being able to speak correctly! So I don’t necessarily blame Moses for his fear.
Now, God does reassure Moses & He tells him that God will be with Moses, so he doesn’t have to fear! He also gives him all these signs. Signs like throwing down his trusted staff & turning it into a snake. (Let me telly you, if I were in the desert in front of a talking plant with my sandals off & my staff then instantly became a snake, I may or may not shriek….slightly). The LORD also turned Moses’ hand into a leprous mess, before healing it again. So Moses has been given PLENTY of reassurance in this matter.
Now that I’ve set the scene & caught us up on the context, I want to call to attention verses 10-17. This is where Moses is reminding God that he is poor in speech. Notice what God says in verse 11. He asks Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” What an odd thing for our creator to ask Moses. Now, obviously God knows the answer to the question, but what he is getting Moses to learn is that God is WELL aware of Moses’ poor speech. He knows all too well that he is not an eloquent speaker, because He made Moses that way! We have this phrase in the church that get’s used often & Moses is a GREAT reminder of the truth behind this quote.
“God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called”. There is SO.MUCH.TRUTH. in that statement. God is a God of the process, & through that process, He will fully equip us to do what He has called us to! After God tells Moses how he knows of his poor speech, this is where Moses has run out of excuses, so Moses cries out (I’d like to think in a whining voice, not to add to scripture), “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else!” God’s anger is kindled here against Moses. While I may never hear those words in scripture, I sure hope I never learn when I get to heaven that God’s anger was kindled against me at some point in my walk with Him. Not to say I wouldn’t have deserved that, but that I wouldn’t want to do something so upsetting to the Father.
The second way we see the truth in that God knows what we need before we even ask is in Exodus 4:14b. After hearing Moses’ pity party on his own speech, He asks Moses this question, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, & when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.” Well look at that, God already had Aaron coming to the mountain, because He knew that Moses would have all these excuses & reasons. God knows that Moses needs someone to be a confident speaker for him, so he brings Aaron’s brother. What a great family reunion in the wilderness! The Bible tells us exactly what God wanted to tell us, but sometimes we wish it told us more, right? I wonder what that was like when the Lord appeared to Aaron & told him to go & meet his brother in the wilderness? I think we can safely say that Aaron & Moses hadn’t seen each other in a while, maybe even the entire 40 years that Moses had been gone from Egypt. We don’t know for sure, but we do know they embraced each other in verse 27 of chapter 4 upon reconnecting.
There in Exodus 4 are 2, simple, clear examples that God knows what we need, before we even ask! There is a word for this we use in the church. We say that God is omniscient. That word means that God knows everything. He isn’t “arriving” like we are in our knowledge. He knows everything in the past, everything in the present & everything in the future. Praise God for His omniscience! We need to discuss the character of God more & talk about what God’s Word says about Him. Did you know, that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a theologian? What you think about Christ is the most important thing in your life!
Just this past week, I had someone say to me that while they are a devout christian, & love Jesus, they don’t think God is in total control. Based off this person’s life, I was shocked, & saddened truthfully, that they would think God is not fully in control. Their reasoning was more based on the suffering in the world, & I may just write about that in the weeks to come. For now, I will come to a close, but I want to remind us all that God is an all knowing God, & He ALWAYS knows what we need, we just need to go to Him! As always, pursue Him, honor Him, and glorify Him in ALL you do! Be blessed!
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