Is God Weak?

Have you ever found yourself in what felt like or looked like an impossible situation?  As a Christian, we profess to believe that God is all-powerful, that He can change anyone and anything at any moment because He is God.  Yet, does our life sometimes reflect something different than what we profess?  It doesn’t make it right, but we are not alone.  We are going to see this in Moses’ life in our post for Blogging Through The Bible In 2020.  Numbers 11:23 says, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?  Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”

The people are once again complaining against God and Moses in Numbers 11.  God had been supernaturally supplying them with manna since they left Egypt.  There was never a day that they lacked what they needed.  Yet, we see them unhappy with God’s provisions.  They wanted meat.  In their sinfulness, they actually tried to say that they were better off living in Egypt where they were slaves.  Their reasoning for saying they were better off in Egypt?  They ate better. God comes to Moses and tells him, I hear the complaints of the people.  Tomorrow, I’m going to provide them with so much meat, they won’t know what to do with it is.  I’m going to give them so much, it’s going to be coming out of their noses.  This is where we see Moses waiver in his faith. Moses looks around and says, “Lord, you do know that there are 600,000 men right?  How are you going to give us that much meat?”  In typical God fashion, God answers Moses’ question with a question.  The question is this, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?”  In other words, God is asking, have I somehow lost some power and ability to provide for you and the Israelites?  Am I not the same God who spared Israel from the death plague that swept through Egypt?  Am I not the same God who miraculously parted the Red Sea so that you and the nation of Israel could cross over on dry ground?  Am I not the same God that provided manna for you all to eat, and gave you water to drink out of a rock?  Am I not that same God?  God was rebuking Moses for his lack of faith in God’s power to provide for His people.  In a very real sense, Moses was calling into question God’s love for Israel.  There is a story in the New Testament, during Jesus’ ministry where something similar happens.  Jesus has been teaching, and the people have been following Jesus.  Jesus stops, and He asks the question, where are we going to get enough food for all these people to eat?  It was 5,000 men in this story, so when you add the women and children in, it could have easily been a crowd of 10,000+ people. The disciples, like Moses, doubted. Within the crowd, a boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish was discovered and brought to Jesus.  Jesus told the disciples to have the crowd sit down. Jesus not only fed this crowd, but there were leftovers.  The point of both stories is the same, God is all-powerful, and He is able to do what He pleases.  I wonder if we are like Moses or the disciples from time to time?  Do we sometimes forget that God is the same yesterday as He has always been?

Is there a situation in your life right now that looks bleak?  Are you tempted to lose hope?  If so, remember this, God is the same today as He has always been.  He has not lost His power or ability to change anyone or anything.  He has not stopped loving you.  He has not abandoned you to figure it all out.  Just because you and I can’t figure something out, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t already know what He is going to do.  Not one time in the Bible do we see God tell us to figure it all out.  Rather, 365 times in the Bible God tells us not to worry or be afraid.  Our responsibility is to pray in faith, trusting that God saw all of this coming long before we did, and He knows exactly how He is going to work it out for His glory and for our good.  

Therefore, whatever is weighing on your heart and mind today, lay it down.  You were never meant to carry the burdens of the world or of your life.  You were created by God and for God to worship Him, love Him, and serve Him.  Pray about it in faith, remembering who God is, and then watch for God’s answer.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin