“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Exodus 34:6
I needed to tell my manager that I was leaving my well-paid sales job to attend seminary. I was 52. I knew God had called me to this new endeavor. But I was nervous and rightfully so. Our son was approaching college; our daughter was about to get married. This drastic change in focus and finances wasn’t logical, and I just couldn’t take the step.
Then one afternoon as I grumbled in frustration to God at my lack of understanding His plan and purpose, I heard Him say, “I have given you the gift of teaching, and you have buried it. Dig it up, and GO.”
I am not the first person to whom God has handed a hard assignment without a clearly explained plan. I took the step. What carried me through this life change wasn’t my own grit or courage. It was an ever-increasing, intimate knowledge of God’s character.
Moses faced a difficult assignment in Exodus 33. The Israelites had just asked for and worshipped a golden calf. In response, God said He would remove His presence from them, instead sending an angel ahead of them. Moses refused to settle for God’s gift of the promised land without God’s presence. And then he asked for even more: “Please show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18).
The next morning, the glory of the Lord passed by Moses as God proclaimed: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6)
Moses didn’t ask for an out or even a plan. He asked to know God more deeply. This did not move the Israelites even one step closer to their destination. But it gave Moses an intimate understanding of God’s nature that would carry him through that journey. This merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love God, who had revealed His name to Moses, was leading them.
I did not get a clear, five-year plan before I resigned. (I still don’t have one!) But I knew God’s loving nature, and I knew He had never abandoned me. That knowledge enabled me to take that first step and keep going. It still does when a new task comes my way.
When God hands you the tough assignment, pursue the opportunity to know God better. Don’t wait for the job to make sense. Ask God to reveal Himself through the task. Ask to know His character more personally and for that knowledge to enable you for the task He has given.
Because His glory will always be enough.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the hard assignments You entrust to us that more fully reveal Your character. Please give us the strength to answer Your calling. Remind us of Your deep love for us, of Your patient kindness and mercy. Let our obedience show others the most empowering aspects of Your character. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Want more?
Read John 1:1–14. John says the Word “became flesh and dwelt among us.” What does that tell you about how present He is in your hard thing right now? What does the full revelation of God’s character in Jesus give you to hold onto that Moses didn’t yet have? Where do you need to see God’s glory today, not as an escape from your hard assignment, but as the strength to continue in it?
