He Thought, They Thought, We Thought

Serving – September 2009 – Grace & Truth Magazine

He Thought, They Thought, We Thought

“Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Acts 7:25 NIV

Moses thought he was destined to be Israel’s deliverer. He thought that his miraculous preservation from death when he was a baby was because God intended to use him to save the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. He likely thought being raised as the son of Pharaoh was all part of God’s plan. He had been trained to be a leader and a ruler. He thought that the children of Israel would understand that he was their deliverer. But they did not accept him like he thought they would.

How often mistakes in life are associated with thinking something is true when it is not. In Luke 24:21, the two on the way to Emmaus were disappointed because they thought the Lord had come to redeem Israel, but their deliverer had ended up being crucified. Many of the people who were looking for a deliverer probably thought Barabbas showed more promise than the Lord. After all, Barabbas had actually led an insurrection. So when a choice was given by Pilate, between Barabbas and Jesus, the people chose Barabbas.

Sometimes we have car accidents because we thought the other car would stop. Or we thought the light was green. Or we thought the road was dry. The people of Israel didn’t see Moses as their deliverer just as they didn’t see the Lord as their deliverer. However, Moses also thought some other things that weren’t true. He thought he could save the people in his own strength and because of his own privileged position and training. He thought the time was right for the people to be delivered. He thought the people would be glad for his intervention. Moses had some hard lessons to learn.

When Moses was too old to be a deliverer, when he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t even have the oratorical skills to be a deliverer, when he had learned how to be a shepherd as well as a ruler – then the Lord was able to use him. The Lord had always intended to use him, Moses just didn’t know when and how. He wasn’t used until the Lord became the Deliverer and Moses became the tool that the Deliverer would use.

Like Moses, too many of us use our reasoning skills when it comes to serving God, rather than our faith skills. Faith often runs counter to reason. As we try to serve the Lord we think we know how God wants His work done, even though we really don’t have a clue.

We should be encouraged by the fact that even Paul, a man who lived in close fellowship with God, had to learn this lesson. He tried twice to serve the Lord in the area we now call Turkey, when in fact the Lord wanted him to cross over into Greece (Acts 16:6-10). And the whole of Western Civilization has benefited from Paul obeying and going west instead of east.

Most of us think that if we want to do something for the Lord then it must be His will that we do it. But He just might want us to do it at some other time, in some other place or in some other way than we expected.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could quit thinking that the Lord is going to bless us just because we want to do what we think He wants? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that we are doing the Lord’s will, in His way, in His place and in His time? When will we learn this lesson?

By Bruce Collins