THE GOD WHO MEETS US IN OUR CRISIS

March 09, 2020

THE GOD WHO MEETS US IN OUR CRISIS


We’ll all been there. Whether it was financial, relational, emotional, spiritual—we’ve all had those moments when we were consumed by something that was beyond us.

Moses was leading anywhere from 1-3 million people across the desert to the Promised Land. And they had a water shortage. The people began to grumble and complain, which is understandable. What they did not know is that God was allowing them to go through this problem so they would look to Him and see Him provide. Their needs would be miraculously met and God would be glorified.

APPROACHING GOD

So, what did Moses and his brother, Aaron, do in this moment of life-threatening crisis? Where did they turn where there was nowhere else to turn?

6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them;
7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

 

Moses and Aaron ...

  • Listened to the people’s complaints and assessed the problem.
  • Immediately went to God to seek Him and His direction.
  • Fell on their faces (a sign of humility and dependency before God).
  • God appeared to them.
  • God spoke to them.
  • God gave a plan to them.
  • God provided exactly what they needed and all they needed..

It was simple, direct, and effective. Instead of trying to “figure out” how to resolve the problem, Moses sought God. Moses didn’t spend hours in worry, fear, or agony. He just went directly to the God-of-all-answers.

God gave a very different answer than they might have suspected (He almost always does), but it was an answer in which only God would be glorified. Not Moses or Aaron or anyone else could take credit. Only God could bring water out of the rock (a symbol of the coming Cornerstone, Jesus, who would bring living water to all those who look to Him).

YOUR RESPONSE TO YOUR PROBLEMS

Where do you turn in times of need? In moments of crisis? You could look a thousand places and never find the answer. Or, you could look to one place and Person, God Himself, and find exactly what you need. As you do, your needs will be abundantly supplied, others will be blessed, and the world around you will gain a right opinion about God.

Father, thank You for being all we need. You long to make Yourself known to us and one of the ways is through providing for us in our times of greatest crisis. Lord, help me to look to you as my first response, not last resort. And, may You alone be glorified as You provide the answers and resources I need.





Also in Graceful Truth

REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 15)
REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 15)

March 15, 2023

This is the heart of revival, both personal and corporate. Revival intimates two things have occurred: a drifting and a return. We have wandered from Christ. Our hearts have become cold and lifeless. To be revived is to be brought back to that which is life itself. It’s not a return to a program or a discipline. It is to fall in love with Jesus all over again. It is a repentance unto Him.

Continue Reading

REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 14)
REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 14)

March 10, 2023

Is prayer a nice thing to do? Something we resort to when we are in a serious situation? A word to describe one of the disciplines of the Christian life? Secondary, but not really all that essential? Something we do as a segue between songs on a Sunday morning? Or is it the essence? The foundation? The fragrance that is to pervade everything for the serious follower of Jesus? The ultimate pathway to communion with God and the source of life and power for all we are and do?

Continue Reading

REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 13)
REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (Part 13)

March 09, 2023

Why should we pray fervently for the blessing of a nationwide or worldwide spiritual awakening? Why should we unite (as Jonathan Edwards said) in “explicit agreement and visible union among God’s people in extraordinary prayer for a revival of religion and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom on earth?” Why should we seek to cooperate together and not tear apart the beginnings of His awakening in our nation?

Continue Reading