Hope grows as we remember who is with us. This year has been challenging, but because of God I have had the strength, wisdom, peace and joy that I needed to face each day. I have had an assurance that I have someone greater than me to deal with the matters that 2020 threw at me. It's not just the fact that He is in control that brought peace, its the fact that he sees, hears, knows, and engages in my life. This Sunday I shared a message from Exodus 3 about Moses and the burning bush. There God appears to Moses and what he says reveals who He is. "Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey..." (Exodus 3:7-8) He is not a cosmic force which is isolated from us, or who can't feel what we are going through. Though he transcends the universe, he also enters into it and relates with others. He sees, he hears, he knows and he comes down to act. That's reassuring isn't it. He sees all we have gone through this year. He hears all our our cries of exhaustion, frustration and pleas for help. He knows the full situation of what we are experiencing. That's a wonderful thought. The creator of the universe knows what we are going through. But what is even greater, is that He enters into our life to help us and to lead us out of the situation we are facing. In Exodus 3 God knows Israel's situation and determines to send Moses to rescue them. Moses questions whether he has what it takes to do the job and asks, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” And God's response is, "I will be with you". It doesn't matter who I am, and whether I can face this new year. I know that on my own I'll feel overwhelmed and discouraged. What matters is not, "Who am I?" but "Who is with me?" Moses would ask a similar question when he asks for God's name. In ancient times a name usually reflected the persons character. By asking for God's name, he is asking, "Who are you?" And what does God say? “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14) That sounds like a pretty cryptic name, doesn't it. What does it mean? Here's what I have discovered.
That's who God is. So, let me ask a question. Is He with you? If you have turned to Jesus in faith and received his gift of salvation, then God IS with you. And as Paul writes in Romans 8:31 - "If God is for us, who can stand against us?"
Over the next couple months, I want us to focus on the one who is with us - God. And we will do that by exploring some of his names.
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