Exodus 34:9




Moses said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favour with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”
What an incredible job Moses had! The people had rebelled against God in the most dramatic way. They knew that Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to meet with God, but they were fed up with waiting and so they constructed a new god of their own, who they then worshipped with huge enthusiasm. To describe Moses as disappointed would be a huge understatement. He must have been gutted. Who would have blamed him if he had decided to throw in the towel? Who would want to be the leader of such a rude and rebellious people? But the fact is that Moses hung in there, and he did so because he knew the nature of his God.
In the previous verses the Lord revealed himself as a God of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and filled with faithfulness, lavishing unfailing love to a thousand generations. Moses’ strength lay in the fact that he knew the nature of his God and was confident that, tough as it would be, he could lead the people so long as he knew that God himself was travelling with them.




I am often struck by the huge challenges that people have to cope with in life. Betrayal, failure, illness, disappointment and death are shared out unequally and I have often gasped at the way in which people cope. Life is totally unpredictable and so we all need, like Moses, to be clear about the nature of God so that we are equipped to face up to whatever challenges might be thrown at us. I love the confidence of the apostle Paul who asked the question: “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:31-32). Paul could so easily have looked at the problems which surrounded him and given up, but he, like Moses, kept his eye on the God who was travelling with him, and remained strong.




Question: What is it about God that gives you strength as you look to the future?
Prayer: Loving God, I thank you that I can live with confidence because you are always with me, whatever happens. Amen

Released on 12 Nov 2022