Unfolding plans? Or the whole Blueprint?

When I know God wants me to speak to someone, I often run through my mind what I should say and how to say it, but when the time comes, my words seldom turn out as I planned. Also, Jesus told His disciples not to plan what to say when they were hauled before authorities because the Holy Spirit would give them the words as they needed them.

Perhaps these are reasons why I’m hesitant to premeditate my words. Giving a lecture or teaching a workshop is different, but conversation about spiritual matters tends to come out better if I don’t work on it in advance, just say it as God prompts me for that moment.

However, the Lord surprised me this morning as I was reading Exodus 3. Moses is at the burning bush where God tells him He has seen the oppression of His people in Egypt. He tells Moses, “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Moses protests. First he asks, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He also asks what he should say about who sent him. He is obviously stalling, and that comes out later, but I’m surprised at what God said in response to his first two questions:

“Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you. . . . “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

I’ve had God ask me to do things, but never has He given me the full set of instructions until I said yes and as I began to cooperate with His plans. Here, Moses is given the full outline of what is going to happen. God even tells him exactly what to say to both the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, and how they will respond, and what he must do next.

Certainly God knew Moses would protest, even after this detailed job description, but He gave it to him anyway. As I read through the passage it tells me something about God—when He wants a job done, He can and will use whoever He chooses, even someone who thinks they are not qualified, or will not be heard, or have no skills for the job. Also, God plans ahead.

How is this practical? For one thing, I pray that God will bring Christians into the lives of some of my unsaved family, and that He will use them to deliver these I love from the darkness and bondage of sin into His kingdom.

Then the worrywart in me starts thinking about the spiritual skill needed to do this task, and the seeming determination of my family against listening to anything about God. I know many Christians are reluctant to share their faith with one another, never mind those determined not to have any faith.

I also realize that this negative thinking is a flat-out denial of the power of God. Instead of being like Moses in this part of the story, I need to remember what God did here, and what happened later. Moses eventually led an entire nation from slavery to the land God promised them. He did exactly as God said He would.

Should God decide to use another Christian to answer my prayers, He is not limited. He might pick someone who looks weak, even is weak and thinks they cannot do it, but the God who moved Moses from reluctance to obedience has not changed. He can still motivate His people to do what seems impossible, and His planning is perfect.

Another thing—I’ve not seen a burning bush, but should the Lord tap me on the shoulder with some outrageous chore, I will remember that He will walk me through it. He might give me the next step as I take the first one, but He might also outline the whole project like He did with Moses. I should never limit what He will do based on my doubts about my ability or anyone else’s ability to fit into His grand plans. I also need to remember that when I pay attention, He will show me if planning ahead is just me worrying and trying to be in control, or it is God speaking to my heart and preparing me to do His will.