Moses Not Jephthah!

I just finished a three part sermon series on "How to Be Good." The first week we found ourselves in final few verses of Romans 8. Then the first part of Romans 8 was home for the second week. The series concluded with a study of Romans 6. Both weeks I talked about Romans 7. Romans 7 is not a prescription for a good day if you read it alone. It's actually pretty depressing and doesn't produce much hope for any of us.

I concluded with the encouragement that being good, even with an "Abba Father" relationship and grace abounding with the Holy Spirit as our Helper, being good was still a choice. Joshua remarked about the importance of choosing "this day" whom you would serve. Jesus referred to taking up the cross "daily." And there is also the admonition that "the steps" of the righteous are ordered by God. (I think I live in the place of having to choose with each step, not just for the day. Can't even think about the week all at once either.)

I wanted to follow up this short series with a two part series on two people who made the choice to "be good" in spite of difficult circumstances. My choices were Jephthah and Moses. I really wanted to point out how God would be faithful when we make the right choices.

On the Friday before I was to preach, God spoke very plainly to me about reversing the order of the messages. That meant preaching on Moses last week and on Jephthah this coming Sunday. I really couldn't see a reason to change since I had spent a lot of time preparing a message on Jephthah and his choices. But the more God and I discussed this, the more I felt I had no choice. I needed to choose to obey. And I prepared a message from Moses' life.

I still don't know why God wanted the change. I suppose there's a chance I might learn why after this coming Sunday, but there's an even greater chance I will never know why. It's not my job to know why. It's just my job to be obedient and trust that God knows best.

In the course of the sermon on Moses, I ran across Moses' question to God about why he should be the one chosen to go to Egypt. I also noticed that God never answered that question. He just continued to encourage Moses to go to Egypt. He had a job for him down there.

Then recently I read the story of Gideon in Judges 6. I noticed Gideon asked God about why all the bad things had happened to Israel. God didn't answer that question either. He just told Gideon to "save Israel."

If you move into the New Testament, particularly Matthew 14, you will notice that Jesus fed the multitude (5,000 men plus their families) with just a few pieces of fish and bread. I find myself relating more to the disciples and the folks who were hungry than to what Jesus was doing.

The disciples were busy trying to figure out how to get the job done. Their conclusion was that Jesus needed to send the folks away. They didn't have enough money nor food to even think about feeding this many people. When they went to explain this to Jesus, He just told them to give him everything they had and then do their job of feeding the people. He never tired to explain their questions or their doubts, He just went about His business and expected them to do the same. (I've always imagined Jesus chuckling the whole time the disciples were out picking up leftovers.)

I don't think it's wrong to ask the "why questions." It's part of who we are and how we are created. But if God chooses not to answer our question, we need to make sure that we don't get stuck in the void of not knowing the answer. Instead we need to choose to continue to do what He tells us to do. It's a choice on our part. A choice to obey. And a choice to believe that He knows what He's doing.

I may never know why I was supposed to preach on Moses last week and Jephthah this week, but I did it and I am resting on the promise that Father really does know best.

Always in Pursuit!