How far will God go?

 

How far will God go to accomplish His will?

I wonder if it is even possible for me to really understand the lengths that God will go to in order to bring Glory to Himself or to make His name known.

Take Exodus for example; specifically the chapters that tell the story of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. (You can read all about it here) I am... perplexed by the extremes God went to in order to accomplish His goal. I always thought that His goal was to free the Israelites.

Here's the way I have always thought of the story...

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. God loved them and heard their cries and sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to "Let my people go". Pharaoh said "no". God sent the plagues. When God sent the last plague (killing all the first born males), Pharaoh gave in and finally told the Israelites to leave Once they were gone, Pharaoh sent his army to bring the Israelites back to Egypt. The Lord parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked across the dry seabed. Once the Israelites were safe, the Lord let the sea cover the Egyptians who had followed them. The Israelites are free, God is glorified. The End.

This is what I missed all the other times I read the story...

"The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out My hand against Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them.” Exodus 7:5

Here is how you will know that I am Yahweh. Exodus 7:17

This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land. Exodus 8:22b

Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth. Exodus 9:14

I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

“Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of Mine among them,² and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” Exodus 10:1-2

The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”  Exodus 11:9

"I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” Exodus 14:4

"I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Exodus 14:17-18

I am no theologian, but here's what I know about God. He could have freed the Israelites without the Plagues. He could have made Pharaoh let them go immediately. Yet He chose to drag things out with the plagues. He chose to drown Pharaoh’s army, chariots, and horses in the Red Sea. Why?

So that everyone would know that HE is Yahweh.

It’s easy to freak out and wonder “Why is God letting this happen” when life is challenging. I remind myself that there is no limit to what God will do to make Himself known, to Bring Glory to Himself, and to insure that we tell others about Him. Keeping this in mind gives me courage and  helps me to look for ways to share what God is doing in the midst of all that life throws my way. I hope it will do the same for you.

God won't give you more than you can bear

"I know that God will not give me more than I can bear."

This sentence grieves my heart. I've written about it before and probably will again, simply because it is so often misused... and because the misuse upsets me so.  Someone quoted it in a ladies group I visited not long ago, and it has been on my mind since then. Might as well go on and get my thoughts in print so I can let it go.

The scripture that is referenced is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says...

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.

Well meaning, God fearing, Christ believing people twist this to apply "God's not going to give us more than we can handle" to all sorts of situations.

It breaks my heart to hear someone say, "God won't give you more than you can bear" because...well, what happens when He does? What happens when He does not save the child? What happens when He doesn't restore the marriage? What happens when He does not heal the spouse? What happens when it IS too much to bear?

There are 2 blessings that we absolutely miss out on by misusing this promise.

First, we miss the promise it gives...God will ALWAYS provide a way out of temptation. We are not helpless to Satan's tempting. There will never be a time when temptation is so great that the ONLY option you have is to sin. This Scripture promises a way out when faced with temptation. But that is a post in and of itself and will have to wait for another day.

Secondly, we miss the fact that we NEED Christ. When things are too much to bear, I run to My heavenly Father and crawl into His lap and sob. When I am terrified, I hide behind my heavenly Father. When I was told that I was having a miscarriage, when I was diagnosed with cancer, when there were more bills than money, when friends betrayed us, when my Nan died and I didn't know how to comfort my mom, when I was diagnosed with cancer again...when life was too much to bear, I ran to my Father. He carried me when I couldn't go on. He supported me when I collapsed. He comforted me when I grieved. He picked me up, dusted me off, wiped my tears, held me, soothed me, and comforted my soul. And, when life is too much to bear in the future, I will run to Him, and He will hold me.

I need Christ for Salvation and I need God's grace... but that's not all I need.  Sometimes life really IS too hard. Some circumstances and situations really ARE too much for me to bear. Sometimes I feel like I am going to crumble into a million pieces. Sometimes I feel like I am going to be crushed under the weight of the world. Sometimes my heart hurts so much that I think I might never recover. In these times I NEED God.

Why, oh why, would the God who has gone to such great lengths to make Himself known to us orchestrate our lives in such a way so that we never have need to run to Him for comfort, direction or any other sort of help?

I found this when I was looking for something that says "God wont give you more than you can bear"....

That pretty much sums it up.