I tend to give the type of directions that people hate. Actually, I give the type of directions that I hate. You know the ones that are never detailed and usually end with something like, “don’t worry you’ll know when you get there—you can’t miss it”.
Well, what if I do miss it? What if I’m a total moron? I am the guy that once stopped at a gas station to get directions for the building across the street. It is possible that I could totally miss the obvious building that even a monkey could drive to.
These type of directions stress me out because they require a good amount of trust in the person giving them. First of all, I have to trust that he/she knows my level of imbecility. I have to trust that if he says I cannot miss it—he genuinely knows that I CANNOT miss it this time. Secondly, I have to trust that he/she really can guide me to this “obvious” location.
God’s Answer to Moses
“Trust me” type of directions can be really disconcerting. And it is precisely these type of directions that God gives Moses in Exodus 3.
Moses says to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” His question is certainly sensible. Who is Moses that he—a stuttering murderer—should lead Israel out of Egypt?
If I were Moses and God responded to me in this way, I’m not sure that I would have found what he said helpful. Check out God’s response:
“But I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain”.
In other words God is saying, “once you’ve brought them out of Egypt then you will know that I called you to bring them out of Egypt”.
Is “I will be with you” enough?
I wouldn’t have been cool with this response. I should be cool with this response—but I’m not. The problem is with me, not with God’s answer. But I don’t want God to say, “trust me, you’ll know it when you get there”. I want God to give me a picture now, map it out. Don’t just tell me—once this has been accomplished you’ll look back and say—see I told you so. I don’t like that because that takes some serious trust.
The key to this text—the foundation of what God said to Moses—is this statement: “But I will be with you”. That should be enough shouldn’t it? Moses asks, “who am I”, to which God responds, “It’s not who you are, Moses, that matters. What matters is that I AM, and I am going with you.”
Is it enough for me today that God says, I am with you? Because in Jesus I have the certain promise, “I am with you always”. Christ has not left us as orphans—through His Spirit, He is now with us always. Is that enough? Is God’s presence enough for me today or do I need a map?
Do I trust God enough for him to say, “You’ll know when you get there”?
