Question Me an Answer

SCRIPTURE:  The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Exodus 33:14-16 NIV

THOUGHT: Sometimes God gives us an answer, and rather than rest in it, we just have more questions. That’s what happened to Moses after God promises the very thing that should fill Moses with confidence and joy: God’s very presence will be with me and I won’t be overwhelmed by the journey – God will give me rest! Yea! Nope, he doesn’t rest a single beat before he starts questioning God’s answer.

I like Moses’ questions though, and I am in awe of the way he advocates for the same people that drive him crazy. He basically says to the King of the Universe, “Well, you’d better go, not just with me but with all of us, otherwise don’t ask us to move another foot! How else will people know you’re the one who’s given me this calling? How else will people who don’t know you know we are different from anyone else?”

The same questions haunt me today. If God doesn’t go with us, why even go? How else will people know there’s a single thing different about us? How can we speak a single word worth anyone listening to?

PRAYER: Oh God, we need your presence today more than we ever have. Don’t send us a step into the future if you aren’t beside us – don’t let us utter a word that you didn’t breathe into us first. In your miraculous way make yourself known through us and to us.