Lean-to Living

I don’t know about you, but I love starting off the new year with a revamped Bible reading plan spread before me. Every January offers an opportunity to kick off a new approach to studying the Word of God. Some years it may be an approach that combines reading selected passages from both the Old and New Testaments each day. Other years the reading plan may focus on a slower, more methodical read through the Gospels or the New Testament letters to the early church. Mixing up the reading plan can help keep us engaged in the Word and anxiously anticipating the uncovering of buried treasures found in the pages of Scripture. One year in particular, I found myself on the most basic of all reading plans. I started in Genesis on January 1st and was aiming to work my way through Revelation by the time a new year rolled around.

As the month of January came to a close, I had just walked with the children of Israel as they left Egyptian slavery, under the leadership of Moses. I’d heard the story of the Exodus all my life. I’d read about it, and I’d even studied it in a fair amount of detail. However, this particular time through, it felt as if I was seeing parts of it for the very first time. God was showing me things that, in the past, I’d read and never really stopped to think about. He was reminding me that reading through His Word wasn’t just an exercise in checking something else off of my to-do list. His Word was applicable to my everyday life. Yes, even those passages from the pages of the Old Testament. They still had meaning for me today. The rich history of the Old Testament was vital to my ability to put one foot in front of the other some days. There were still lessons God wanted to teach me from the lives of Moses and the children of Israel, and one such lesson came to life for me in the third chapter of Exodus. God was addressing Moses from the burning bush, convincing him that he was, indeed, God’s instrument of choice for freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Feeling a bit under-qualified for the task at hand, Moses began asking lots of questions and offering a series of excuses for why he wasn’t the man for the job.

In Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” I love God’s response to Moses. “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Without question, God was reiterating His sovereignty, His supremacy, His dominion, His commanding authority over all things. In other words, Moses didn’t have to have it all figured out before he went. He didn’t have to meet a long list of requirements to be God’s chosen mouthpiece. Moses didn’t have to have all the answers. He only needed to know Who sent him. The God of the universe, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Alpha and the Omega—that’s who was sending Moses.
Oh, how I needed to be reminded that He is Lord of all! Like Moses, I was guilty of asking for all the answers upfront. I needed to know how things were going to play out and exactly how I was supposed to respond to the myriad of circumstances life threw my way. I wanted to be able to plan and prepare for whatever came my way. However, the truth of the matter was that all I really needed to know was Whose I was. I needed to know Who I belonged to, and I needed to trust in His complete sovereignty and unfailing love.

As I read those few verses in Exodus, God reminded me that He is who He says He is. I don’t have to have it all together as long as I have Him. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” So, friends, we can boast about our weaknesses, knowing that we serve the One who turns our weakness into an impenetrable strength. Not our strength, but the strength of the Great I AM!

I’m not able to stretch this month’s paycheck to cover the family expenses … I AM
I’m not smart enough to get the promotion I so desperately need … I AM
I’m not patient enough to deal with my difficult co-worker … I AM
I’m not strong enough to tackle the issues in my failing marriage … I AM
I’m not equipped enough to raise my defiant teenager … I AM
I’m not able to find hope in the face of disappointment … I AM

Through His Word, God was reminding me to stop focusing on my limitations and appreciate the gift of His sovereignty. All things are under His rule and His control. Paul sums it up in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “This is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Let’s set out to recognize His sovereignty in all situations and build some spiritual muscle as His power is made perfect in our weakness.

LEANING ON GOD
Reread 2 Corinthians 12:10, and hand write it below. Identify areas of your life where you need to be reminded that I AM is in control. It may be a financial situation you’re facing, a family crisis, or a struggle at the workplace. Whatever the battle, put your pen to paper this week, writing a prayer to God, asking Him to change your perspective so that He becomes magnified in light of your struggles. Do as the verse says, and just let Christ take over.