Trusting Who Is With You When You Can’t See What’s Ahead of You

By Andrea Lucado

The Bible very clearly defines what faith means for the Christ follower. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

The writer of Hebrews further explains what faith is by providing examples of faithful people, such as Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses.

Moses’ story, found in the Book of Exodus, details one act of faith after another. God met Moses in the form of a burning bush and called Him to a great mission.

God said to Moses, “…the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:9-10

Moses replied, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11

He was hesitant because he had a long history with the Egyptians. They had taken Moses in as a baby when the rest of his people, the Hebrews, were suffering under Egyptian rule. Moses later killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of his people and then fled Egypt in fear. Since then, before the burning bush, he had started a new life, a new story in the land of Midian. His days in Egypt were long behind him, and now God was calling him to go back there.

Many know how the story ends. Moses answers the call. He eventually leads the Israelites out of captivity, across the Red Sea, and away from the dangerous Pharaoh. It’s not because Moses was so brave and courageous that he was able to complete God’s mission. We just read that he was hesitant to heed God’s call at all, but look at God’s words to Moses in response to Moses’ fear.

“I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”  Exodus 3:12

God doesn’t say, “You are strong enough. You can do this. Have faith in yourself.” God says, “I will be with you. Have faith in me. Then, when all is done and well, worship me.”

When God calls us to do something out of our comfort zone, something that seems crazy, we may not have faith that we can do what He’s asking of us, but we can have faith that He will be with us while we try. That’s a promise we see again and again in scripture, that God is with His people. That He is their God, and they are His.

When we don’t have faith in ourselves and what’s before us, we can have faith in Him, for it was God—and not the people themselves—who called and equipped all of those mentioned in Hebrews 11. After all, if it had been up to Moses, the Israelites would have never escaped Egyptian captivity. God promised He would be with them, and Moses took a step of faith into that promise.

Do you believe God’s promise that He will be with you? Has He called you to something you’re unsure about? Remember, when you can’t see what’s in front of you, you can trust who is beside you. And that is true faith.

There is a lot more to Moses’ story. Read our study Exodus: Rescued for Relationship to see what else was in store for Moses, God and His people.