God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” Exodus 3:12 (NLT)
God was telling Moses that he wanted him to go and help free the people of Israel from Egypt. Moses was questioning these instructions (not sure I blame him). And God said to him “You’ll know it was me who sent you when you are finished with the task.”
I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound comforting to me. Can I get a sign in advance? How do I know this is you and not something I ate last night? But this wasn’t the first or the last time God did this.
So many times in the Bible God told people to do things and they didn’t have a sign. They often didn’t know how it was going to turn out until after the fact. Heck, sometimes they never got to witness the outcome of their willingness to follow God’s directions.
Abraham didn’t know what would happen when he went to sacrifice Isaac.
Elijah didn’t know what would happen after 3 years of drought.
The disciples didn’t know the church they started would grow like it did.
Paul didn’t know that his life of service would result in letters to the church that would encourage it for eternity.
We don’t know. We don’t know why God tells us to do things that sometimes just don’t make sense. We don’t know the ramifications of obedience.
This week, when you hear that still small voice and your first reaction is to think “No way! That’s nuts!” maybe you should pause and ask “Lord, is that you?” Then, when you figure out that it is, obey him. You never know how God is going to show up and oh, the amazing things you will experience when he does!