We live in
an age of unprecedented wealth, knowledge, scientific discovery, and
technological advancements. Our world is
often one of rationalism and reason, where the mysteries of the universe are
simply there for us to unravel. We
observe the seasons and the weather, and do our best to predict the patterns of
nature. It’s not only possible to
circumvent the globe in less than 36 hours, we’ve even landed on the moon! The people at the Tower of Babel would envy us
– we’ve actually made it to the heavens and we’ve learned how to translate
almost any language in the world.
The fact is, we live in a world that
can be broken down into countless ologies. If we want to understand the earth, we dig
into geology. If we are interested in
how our bodies function, we slice into biology.
If we have trouble understanding why people behave the way they do, we
define their actions through sociology.
And people who are obsessed with the future, sadly, sometimes gaze into
astrology. But in all of our studies, if
we aren’t careful, we might ignore the ultimate source behind all that we
witness in our world. To answer the
truly important – the really big questions in life – we need to wade into the
waters of theology. In other words, we
need to engage in the study of God.
Sometimes, when people begin to
recount the numerous ways that God has been active in their lives, I get just a
little uneasy. If someone is convinced
that God led them to the perfect parking space at the store, I begin to
question if they really understand God’s overarching purposes for the
universe. But I must be careful not to
become too cynical or jaded when people genuinely notice God’s hand at work in
their lives. I need to make sure that I
don’t become so accustomed to the rational world in which we live, that I wind
up leaving very little room for the divine presence to be seen and felt. God is at work in our world, just as he has
been at work in the history of humankind from the beginning of creation. I need my eyes to be open to what God is
doing all around me.
It was obvious that God was at work in
the lives of the people of Israel in the book of Exodus. But though his signs and wonders were so very
clear, Pharaoh consistently hardened his heart to what YHWH was doing in the
plagues and through the ministries of Moses and Aaron. In fact, it was this hardness to God’s
presence that eventually led Pharaoh and his army to a premature death in the waters
of chaos.
It’s interesting to look at this story
in retrospect. If you move from the
earlier parts of Exodus to the middle, you come to a transitional passage in
the 18th chapter of the book.
Here, the people are finally camped at the Mountain of God, Sinai, and
Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, has journeyed to this spot because he has heard
about what God has done for Moses and Israel.
Though Pharaoh was blind to the maneuvers of YHWH, Jethro is not. He sees that something special is at work,
and who else could it be, but God?
“Then Moses
told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the
Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had beset them on the way,
and how the Lord had delivered them.
Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in
delivering them from the Egyptians.
Jethro said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the
Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Now I know
that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from
the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.’ And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a
burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of
Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.” (Exodus
18:8-12, NRSV).
Scripture doesn’t tell us very much
about exactly who Moses’ father-in-law is, or when he becomes a believer in
YHWH. What we do know is that he is a
priest in Midian. Recent discoveries
have shown that shepherds who lived in Midian around the time of the Exodus
worshipped a God they called YHWH. So,
it could be that Jethro is already familiar with the God of Israel. At any rate, Jethro sees that Israel’s
deliverance from Egypt and their safe passage through the wilderness could not
be accounted for by anything but God’s grace and providence. Who else, but God!
Who else but God could lead Israel to
Egypt in the first place? It was God’s
divine providence that saved the sons of Jacob so many years before. Who else but God could save the life of the
baby Moses through a reed basket and eventually lead him into the wilderness of
Midian where he met his destiny at the burning bush? Who else but God could deal plague after
plague on the false gods of Egypt and Pharaoh, while still protecting his own
people? Who else but God could strike
the first-born sons? Who else but God
could save the people through the chaos waters of the sea? Who else but God could provide the people
with something to drink when they were thirsty, not once, but twice? And when they were hungry and longing for the
pots of meat back in Egypt, who else but God could provide manna to eat? When the Amalekites came out to battle Israel
in the desert, who else but God could deliver them to victory? If not God, then who else?
Jethro has heard of all that God has
done for Moses and for Israel. He has
seen the Almighty at work. He cannot
help but proclaim that God is both sovereign and gracious!
Jethro doesn’t seek a naturalistic
explanation for the miracle of the sea.
And according to Jethro, it’s not just by coincidence that YHWH has led
his people to the Mountain of God. There
is a deeper, far reaching, theological purpose for God’s actions on behalf
Israel. (This is another step in God’s
eventual reclamation of the entire universe.)
God’s wonders are plain to see, and Jethro is willing to gaze in
astonishment upon them. And with his
mouth, and with his life, he offers up praises to this God! His God!
God’s wonders in our world are also
plain to see, but are we willing to see them?
If we’re not careful, we might find ourselves more in tune with the
surrounding culture, than with what God is doing around us. Through the good and the bad, God is at work,
and yet, we might sometimes fail to give him thanks for what he is doing. When we narrowly escape an accident on the
highway, do we think, “Weren’t we lucky!”?
Or, when God uses one of our friends to encourage us and to give us
advice, we might be quick to thank our friend, but slow to remember the God who
gave that friend to us. When we pray to
God to deliver us from some difficult circumstance, and he does deliver us, do
we chalk it up to our faithfulness in
prayer, or do we give glory to the God who faithfully answers our prayers? God is working wonders all around us, but we
must have eyes that are open to see all that God is doing.
A Scottish man named Billy Wilson
penned a song in 2000 which really resonates in our age of human self-sufficiency. The song is titled, Father I Believe and the words make a powerful point.
Who says miracles don’t happen
anymore?
And who says God can only do what we
afford?
Why so many spend so long trying to
ignore,
Every sign of life, every sign of
hope, everything before.
Such a sad affair when living to
deny.
Where every work of wonderful is
written off in time.
The God of old responds to faith, but
now he doesn’t try.
Isn’t that absurd? Isn’t that a joke? Isn’t that a crime?
Father, I believe! Help my unbelief!
And if you tell me mountains will
move, then I will walk as I believe.
A Syro-Phoenician lady, wasn’t due a
thing.
She came for the crumbs from the
table, but she left with everything.
Lowered into Jesus’ presence, lifted
out of sin.
The hearts around him needed proof,
so he left with everything.
Father, I believe! Help my unbelief!
And if you tell me mountains will
move, then I will walk as I believe.
I will walk as I believe.
Wilson’s words especially hit home
with the line, “Father, I believe, help my unbelief!” Have you ever found yourself in a similar
situation? You have a little bit of
faith, but you long to believe more. We
see God’s work all around us and we want to be like Jethro and let everyone know
what God is doing in our lives and in the church, but we sometimes falter in
our boldness. Or, sometimes, when things
don’t go as we would like them to go, we may find it hard to believe that God
is still active and working. But we need
to trust that he is still working – even when we don’t see it, or when we don’t
understand what he’s up to. In these
moments, we would do well to pray, “Father, I believe, help my unbelief!”
And there are some things by God’s
grace that we can do to more clearly see God’s work in our lives. We must acknowledge that God is both
sovereign and gracious. First, by
acknowledging God’s sovereignty we will be more open to let his kingdom reign
into every facet of our existence. There
should be no areas of our lives that are not touched by God’s presence. From the moment we rise in the morning, until
the moment we drop our heads on our pillows, Christ’s presence should be
evident in all that we say and in all that we do. Secondly, by acknowledging God’s graciousness
through our thankfulness to him and in our worship of him, we become more aware
of what God is doing around us. We
should not relegate these times of thanksgiving and praise only to prayers
before meals, devotionals, Bible classes, or church services. They should be a part of every daily activity
in which we participate. Through this
and the encouragement we receive from one another, we will be better able to
see God and his actions in our lives and in this world. Someone is at work in us – someone is at work
in you – someone is at work in me. And
who else could that be, but God?!!! - Shay
