I possibly spend too much time on Facebook. Not much time in a row, but I do check it frequently throughout the day. It's the only social media venue I participate in. I use it not only to keep track of old friends but also to keep up on issues I care about. I follow at least four different immigration advocacy pages, as well as a few apologetics sites, a few churches, and a few of my favorite authors and inspirational speakers.
And, more often than not, I find myself inspired by messages I read. Or, sometimes, by the memes I see.
There was a meme the other day which made me look twice. It said something along the lines that it was "egotistical" for Christians to believe God cares about our lost car keys when He allowed something like the Holocaust to happen. I don’t think these are actually related issues, but it did make me pause. I believe God does care about our lost car keys and the little nuisances in our lives, because He cares for us. When my kid can't find something - which happens a lot - it may not be important to me but I know it's important to him, so I stop and help him look. God loves us infinitely more than even parents love their kids, so it makes sense He would care about all the things that bother us.
I also think God cared immensely about the Holocaust, as well as other horrors around the globe. He cares about the situation between Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Gaza and people in Central America under repressive regimes. He loves all people. These types of human atrocities must break His heart.
So then, why does He allow them to happen? And happen for so long?
I'm remembering the Israelites when they were in bondage for four hundred years in Egypt. Four hundred years. Four hundred years of forced labor and abuse, with no rights, no homeland, no ability to practice their faith. They cried out for God to save them, too. But it took 400 years for God to send Moses.
Why did it take so long? What was God doing all that time? Did He forget about them?
(Interestingly, the number 400 is repeated in the Bible various times, suggesting it might be significant. It ranks right up there with the number 3 and 7, also repeatedly used. I've always been a little suspicious of theories around number significance, which remind me a little too much of numerology, but I know a lot of respectable Bible scholars and teachers who believe there is deeper meaning to these references and time periods. So, keep that in mind and take the following with a grain of salt.)
This is not in the Bible, but I have a theory. I wonder if perhaps Moses wasn't the first person God called to go to Egypt and free the people.
I can't help but wonder if there were others. If there were others God called, but who refused to go. They refused to go because it was too hard or too scary or too inconvenient. Because they didn't feel equipped or prepared. Because they didn't trust God enough to follow Him.
Did it take 400 years to find someone who was willing?
Moses himself was only barely willing. He argued with God, too, but eventually he gave in. And, though certainly not a perfect leader, he showed he was the right man for the job.
There's another meme that flies around the internet off and on. Sometimes it's two turtles, sometimes it's two fishermen, but it always goes like this: one says to the other, "When I get to Heaven, I'm going to ask God why He didn't do anything about all the evil in the world." The other replies, "I'm afraid He'll ask me the same thing."
What if...
God IS doing something about the evil in the world: he put us here. He calls us to do something about it.
Only... we're not.
We refuse to do something because it is too hard or too scary or too inconvenient. Because we don't feel equipped or prepared. Because we don't trust Him enough to follow Him.
What if... it's not His job - it's ours.
We know God can intervene into history. Since the beginning of time, there have been occasions when God has dipped His hands in, and miracles have happened. The Bible documents some - though not all - of those moments. Our lives document others, as well as the lives of our friends and families and communities.
But, perhaps, other times, the work we so desire for Him to do, He’s given to us. And we are the ones who have failed in doing it.
The Bible tells us how to live. We like to complicate it with rules and regulations and other religious trappings, but the main message is pretty clear. Love Him above all else. Love others as we love ourselves. Take care of the poor and the vulnerable, and bring justice and His kingdom on earth. If we look around and see there isn’t justice, if we see people who are oppressed and suffering, if we see poverty, if we see war and conflicts and genocide… Aren’t those our failings, more than His? Do we really think we can sit back on our comfy couches and sip wine and wait for Him to step in and do something, without us having to lift a finger? (Only, maybe, sending our "thoughts and prayers".) Or maybe, we are just waiting for someone else to do it.
Anyone else, just not me.
Just not you.
I have stated on here many times before (it’s become a bit of a mantra), you may be the miracle someone else is waiting for. And if you don’t step up and step in, they may never get that miracle.
What if Moses had also refused to answer God's call? What if he had stayed out in the wilderness with his wife and his sheep? We wouldn't even know his name today.
But we do.
Because even though he was scared, even though he felt unqualified, even though he initially didn’t want to, he stepped out in faith. And he turned out to be just who the people of Israel needed.
Maybe an additional reason why we don't follow God is because we don't know where to start. We don't know how. The mountain seems too big to climb. We forget that mountains are climbed one step at a time.
After all, Moses didn't go to Egypt alone. God was with him every step of the way. God gave him strength and guidance. God gave him power. And God gave him company - allowing his brother Aaron to walk alongside him. God gave Moses everything he needed in order to succeed in the mission to which he had been called.
What might God be calling you to do? Where might you feel scared or feel unqualified or be unwilling to be inconvenienced? How might God be pushing you out of your comfort zones so that you can go and be the miracle? How might God be preparing you and providing all you need in order to fulfill the plans He has for you?
Step out in faith. You might be just who the world needs - or at least, the one your neighbor needs. And, who knows? Maybe stepping out in faith to meet another's need, will be the miracle you've been waiting for, too.
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