Sometimes, God requires us to do hard things. Really. hard. things.
- Like widowhood and solo-parenting.
- Like infertility or child loss.
- Like walking a parent, sibling, or spouse Home.
- Like a devastating diagnosis.
- Like navigating broken relationships, family trauma, personal betrayal, painful rejection and incalculable loss.
- Like forgiving the unforgivable.
- Like having to start over.
- Like stepping out into the unknown.
- Like driving down a .5 mile driveway on 2” of ice.
- Like so many other seemingly impossible tasks.
I don’t know about you, but I have to admit that when He called me to some of these hard things, I said the same thing Moses said in Exodus 4:13:
“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else!”
But God…
Moses: “I can’t; I’m not enough.”
God: “I AM”
Me: “I can’t; I’m not enough!”
God: “I AM”
This encounter with Moses is the first time in human history God chooses to reveal His name: YHWH—I AM.
Moses wasn’t strong, but YHWH.
Moses wasn’t equipped for this, but YHWH.
Moses wasn’t eloquent or even a great leader, but YHWH.
To Moses, the task to which God called him seemed utterly impossible for a thousand reasons. But YHWH.
And because YHWH, the One who calls us, is enough, He makes us enough.
Does He make the task easy? No.
Moses’ obedience resulted in even more hardship, misunderstanding and rejection. Our obedience may not always lead to our expected end, but it will ultimately take us to His. And that is a far better place.
Does He make the task safe? Not always.
Like Moses, we may have to obey afraid.
In C.S. Lewis’ allegory, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Susan asks if Aslan is “quite safe,” to which Mr. Beaver replies, “Safe?… ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he is good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Because our King is good, we need not fear the unknown, no matter how fearsome it may be.
Does He make the task worthwhile? Yes!
It turned out that all the pain and suffering was necessary in order for the beautiful story of rescue and redemption to play out in God’s perfect timing—for the Children of Israel, and for us. That’s the beautiful thing about our Emanuel: when He calls us into the hard places, He goes with us.
Moses eventually became one of the greatest leaders, orators and intercessors in biblical history, but first, He had to say “yes” to the hard things.
So will I. So will you.
We may have a thousand reasons why not. “I’m not strong enough.” “I’m not equipped for this.” “I just can’t.” “I’m simply not enough.”
The truth is, I’m not. Neither was Moses. Neither are you.
But YHWH…
Spoiler alert: After years of doing hard things, Moses’ “expected end” looked like YHWH Himself walking him Home! 🩷
If we will choose to trust and obey, we will find ten thousand ways HE is more than enough.
