In review of Exodus 16:4, I read “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (NIV).
God promised to meet the Hebrew's need for food in the wilderness, but he decided to test their obedience. God wanted to see if they would obey his detailed instructions. I can learn to trust him as my Lord only by following. I can learn to obey by taking small steps of obedience.
I find a lot of commands in the New Testament, and some of them are really inconvenient and uncomfortable, things like “Don’t worry about anything” or “In everything give thanks” or “Always return good for evil.” Some of them even seem impossible!
Yet every demand God makes of me is a test of faith. When God asks me to do something that stretches me, I have to decide: Am I going to trust a gut feeling that says it’s just too much for me to handle, or will I trust what God says is the right thing to do?
The fact is, God often asks me to do the impossible so that I’m forced to depend on him.
God gave the Israelites a test in Exodus 16:4 when it came to how they were going to eat in the wilderness: “The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they follow my instructions” (NIV). He gave them seemingly crazy demands to test their faith and obedience.
God asked Abraham to leave the security of a known situation and travel to an unknown country where he had never been, to start a new nation. And Abraham obeyed and went.
God asked Noah to build an ark on dry land far from the ocean. Noah did what seemed crazy to everyone else and obeyed God.
When more than 5,000 people were hungry, Jesus told Andrew to feed them. God often asks his people to do the impossible to put us in a position where we have to trust him for a miracle. He wants to do that in my life, as well.
My faith increases not only when I rejoice continually through difficult circumstances but also when I obey immediately. That always builds my faith. When God says to do it, don’t sit around. Don’t wonder why it doesn’t make sense. Don’t worry about whether I’m able to do it in my own strength. Just do it. Obey God right away, and trust that he will give me everything I need to fulfill his purpose. And he will grow me in faith.
In summary, God will test me to see whether I follow is instructions. I can learn to trust him as my Lord only by following. I can learn to obey by taking small steps of obedience. When God asks me to do something that stretches me, I have to decide, to trust what God says is the right thing to do or to think I just can't handle it. God will often ask me to do the impossible so that I'm forced to depend on him. My faith will increase, not only when I rejoice continually but when I obey immediately. So just do it. Obey God right away, and trust that he will give me everything I need to fulfill his purpose.
Father, thank you for this reminder this morning, I ask that you through your Spirit in me, keep this in mind as I face things that come my way. It is so easy for me to talk myself out of something that seems difficult or to delay obedience. I also ask you today for your wisdom and guidance for my day, my activities, my leadership and my interactions with others. I pray these things through your Son Jesus name, Amen.
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