When You Find Yourself in Times of Trouble

Today’s scripture comes to us from the book of Exodus. There are only 33 chapters in this second book of the Bible, but some significant things are happening. In fact, in some ways the story starts here. Israel becomes the people that they are as they're wandering out in the desert trying to find themselves on their way to the promised land. Here in this passage, they find themselves at Mt. Sinai, and for all intents and purposes Moses is bargaining with God.

Here is Moses’s plea, as we hear his conversation with God:

Exodus 33: 12-18 (NIV)

Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

You know, it's very hard to really understand the power of this moment without really understanding what leads up to it. Early on, Moses hears the plight of his brothers and sisters that are living in Egypt, so he goes and he bargains with Pharaoh. Through that bargaining and a series of plagues that prove Moses is in God's favor, Pharaoh eventually lets him go.

However, Pharaoh turns back on his decision and he starts to pursue them relentlessly, all the way to the edge of the sea. There, a choice has to be made. God gives Moses the power to hold up a staff and the massive sea parts, allowing all of the Israelites to pass through it. As Pharaoh is in hot pursuit of the Israelites, the water closes in upon them and stops their advance. All of the Israelites find themselves on the other side of this sea. They think that the worst is behind them, but don't realize yet how far they have to go.

You see, Israel becomes Israel out in that wilderness experience. So day after day, they walk and they make camp. Along the way, God provides for their needs every single day with quail and manna. He gives simple instructions: “Don't bother gathering it up, and don’t bother storing it. I'm going to provide what you need every day.”

They finally make it to a place where they take a pause at Mount Sinai, and there they make an encampment. Moses decides to go up on the mountain and have a conversation with God. As Moses and God are talking with one another, God gives him the Ten Commandments that are going to be the overarching thing that identifies Israel as Israel.

Now, while they're up there, the people down in the encampment start to get restless. They keep wondering why they haven’t gotten to their destination.

It's just like a long road trip all over again, where the kids are in the back seat saying, “Are we there yet?”

So the Israelites make a decision while Moses is gone. They recognize that Moses’s brother, Aaron, is a great metalsmith. The people take all of the things that they have carried with them, jewelry and other accouterments made of precious metals, and melt them all down. Out of these, Aaron makes a golden calf, and he sets it up in their midst and they start to worship it. There’s dancing and revelry, and they lay offerings at the the bottom of this golden calf.

While Moses and God are up on this mountain, God knows all of this is happening down below. You can almost feel the tension in the story as God is getting angry. So as Moses goes down the mountain, he carries the Ten Commandments with him. When he sets his eyes upon what has happened in his absence, he is so upset that he throws down and breaks the original ten. He reprimands God's people, and he decides to take a retreat. A time-out. You know, as parents, sometimes we need to do that, don't we?

So Moses takes a time-out and goes back up the mountain. He receives another set of commandments, this one even more forceful than the first set. But while he's up there and he's having a conversation with God once again, God is upset with how the people of Israel have reacted to being delivered out of an almost insurmountable situation to a place of promise. The people are anxious about how long it's taken them, and why they haven't gotten there yet.

God at that moment is making some decisions, one of which is to send a messenger or an angel to lead. You see, up to this time, God has led this party marching through the wilderness. Moses, however, doesn't feel like that's enough. He's in this moment where he feels scared and vulnerable. He's dependent upon God's favor every single day.

Have you ever found yourself in a time of trouble? I have, and Moses has, too.

But there's something powerful for us to hear today, because how Moses responds to God is out of an act of faithfulness. As we look at this passage, Moses asks God of three things during this brief interchange with one another that brings about a new way forward.

The first thing Moses asks of God is:

“If you are pleased with me, then teach me your ways.”

He’s saying “Help me to understand. What are you thinking? What are you feeling? If you're going to have me lead others, you need to teach me what you're thinking, what you're feeling, what your understanding is.”

When I was in Indiana, there was this moment I remember. We had a big gym there, and I remember this young boy showing up one Sunday morning who had a Whiffle Ball bat and ball. After the services were over, we were hanging out in the gym together. This boy wants me to play Whiffle Ball with him, so he says, “You pitch to me and I'll hit it.”

I remember him handing me the ball as he stands up with his bat ready. And, you know, when kids are little, you want to be as careful as possible when throwing because you really want them to hit that ball. You want them to be encouraged. I'm standing there with the ball, and I go ahead and pitch it. The boy swings the bat as hard as he can… and must have missed the ball by a foot.

All right. We're going to do try this again.

He picks up the ball and hands it back to me, and he gets back into position. I'm even more careful this time. I pitch the ball… and he swings and misses a second time. This goes on at least three, four, maybe even five more times. Finally, the boy hands me the ball and he says, "Pastor Mike, you're doing it all wrong! What you need to do is pitch the ball where I'm swinging my bat.”

I bookmarked that moment in my mind, because it’s so true to life! We want God to pitch the ball where we're trying to hit, instead of us reaching for where God is throwing. That's why Moses reaches out with his plea. It’s this powerful moment between Moses and God trying to find some common ground with one another so that things don't fall apart.

Where are we swinging in our lives? Are we swinging at empty air that doesn't hit anything? God keeps pitching us a ball. We might not hit it every time, but every time God throws it, there's a chance that we will.

When we get down to the next couple of verses, it says:

“The Lord replied, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Then Moses said to him, Well, if your presence does not go with us, then don't send us away from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people? Unless you go with us.”

So it's not just about “teach me your ways”. If it's just about teaching, you might take something in. But what happens if nothing else comes as a result of that? Moses says to him, “Don't just teach me, but go with us. Sending anybody else other than you is not going to get it done. Come with us yourself!” That's really what Moses is pleading to God.

Have you ever noticed that people are much bolder to do something new if someone else goes with them? I remember the first time that I rode a roller coaster. There's no way I would have ever done that all by myself, but someone went with me who had gone before. Life challenges are all different when someone goes with you, and it makes a difference who that someone is. That's why God even calls us to be the church in the first place, so that we're not going out there alone.

Moses knew the power of companionship, and really did not want to accept any substitute. Neither should we, because there are powerful moments in our life where we need God's presence right there.

The final request of Moses comes at the very end of verse 18:

“Then Moses said, Now show me your glory.”

I've been watching this unfold for quite a while, but the University of Glasgow and the University of New York Schools of Psychology have had a joint project they've been doing together for quite some time now. As digital technology has advanced, you can now take high-resolution video or pictures of a situation and actually see in someone's eyes what they're looking at. These researchers have found that the backs of our pupils have a part that is like a reflective mirror of what you're looking at.

They have been able to advance this technology so much that if someone is having a picture or a video taken of them, 84% of the time they can see reflections of what that person is looking at, including other people.

You see, it makes a difference in what we're looking at, because what we look at really is what we reflect back to the world.

Moses is the leader of this whole gang of people wandering out in the wilderness, and needs guidance. He says “Lord, if you don't show me, I can't reflect it back to the people who need to see it. We can't be all that you really want us to be unless you show us who we are to be.”

Once again, have you found yourself in times of trouble? I know I have. And I know I have more trouble yet to come. But I've got a plan. I’ve got something to look at that teaches me, and I'm involved in understanding that every single week. Are you?

Teach us your ways, Lord. Go with us, and then show us the glory of what can be if we follow you. That's the good news that Moses wants to hear you to hear today! Because we are the people who are camped out, who can head in another direction in just a moment of frustration. We're right there, right where they are. But Moses brokers a new deal.

We grow learning God's ways, and in so doing, God goes with us. And in so doing God shows us God's glory. Amen.