January 26 - Faith Rejects the World's Pressure
70 Hour prayer vigil begins today. http://signup.com/go/FQ69AW
Join us this evening @ 7 for a time of intercessory worship at the church.
Scripture
- Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.
Observation
The first time he left Egypt, Moses was fleeing from the pharaoh, who wanted to kill him for slaying the Egyptian slavemaster (Ex. 2:15). The second time he left Egypt, another pharaoh wanted to keep Moses from taking the children of Israel with him. In both cases he was in trouble.
In addition to his problems with the kings, Moses faced other pressures. For one thing, he was under pressure to preserve the prestige, pleasure, and plenty that have already been discussed. The prospects of desert living could not have been very appealing. When he fled for his life, he had no idea that he would marry a shepherdess and tend her father's sheep for the next forty years in Midian. But at best, he knew life in the desert could not begin to compare with life in Egypt's royal court.
The greatest pressure Moses faced, however, was fear, because of the wrath of the king. It is the same fear, though perhaps of a different sort and source, that believers may face on occasion. Fear is one of Satan's most effective, and therefore most used, weapons. We are afraid of being thought different, or of losing our job, reputation, or popularity. We are afraid of criticism, often from people that we do not even respect.
Moses was doubtlessly tempted to fear, but he did not. He left Egypt with full determination to follow a better way. He did more than simply leave; he turned his back on Egypt and all that it represented. He renounced it permanently. Moses forsook everything to follow the Lord. He was not thwarted or delayed or intimidated by Satan's fear.
Fear is a great pressure, and all of us are tempted at times to bend when standing for the Lord requires us to say or do something that is unpopular or dangerous. But true faith does not fold under the world's pressure.
Fear did not work on Moses, at least not when God called him out of Egypt. He knew he had an invisible but powerful means of support, as seeing Him who is unseen. He knew that, no matter what happened, whatever he had to face, he would be held up and strengthened and rewarded. He believed with David,
- "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?" (Ps. 27:1).
When Moses wanted to leave Egypt the second time and take all the people of Israel with him, he not only met the resistance of the king but of his own people. When he first told them of God's plan of deliverance, they were thankful (Ex. 4:31). But when Pharaoh made things worse on them every time Moses made a demand, they lost heart and turned against Moses' leadership (6:9; 14:11-12). Now he had both the king and his own people against him. But he was afraid of neither. He continued to say what God wanted him to say and do what God wanted him to do.
Moses was the kind of man he was because he chose to focus his sights on God rather than on a monarch in Egypt. Yet how many times do we fall apart or back down in face of a much lesser threat. When we are afraid of the world, when we are afraid of what people will say or do, we are exposing ourselves to God's displeasure and discipline for lack of faith. Faith rejects the world's pressure, whatever it may be.
Understanding
What is God saying to me?
- Hebrews 4:1-2 (NASB) 1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
If we are going to fear anything let us fear that we will fall short of God’s promises for us and to us. If we must live fearfully then live in the fearful wonder that God will accomplish His Word to us if we will couple His Word with our faith.
Life Application
What will I do about it?
The Word + Belief + Action = Profit to us