I’ll Handle It – by Phil Erickson Jr.

Today’s Passage – Exodus 22 – 24 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Luke 8 – 9; Proverbs 27; Psalms 126 – 130)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Isaiah 51:11

Read the “0127 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Every time I read about the children of Israel wandering through the desert, and I read about them obeying God, then disobeying God. Back and forth, back and forth. Doing right, doing wrong. I get flashbacks of my childhood. I think back to my dad telling me to do something, or how to do something, and I would do it how I was supposed to for a little while. Then, I would decide that my way was better, and it would all fall apart. I can still hear my dad saying, “Phil, would you please just listen to what I tell you to do.”  In Exodus 24:20 – 33, God is telling the people that He will take care of everything for them. Whatever they might come up against, He would handle it. They would just need to be patient and trust Him to do what He said He would do.

I’ll Handle It

Exodus 23:20-22 – Behold, I will send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions:for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

God assured them that He would take care of any enemy, any obstacle, any sickness. He would make sure they had food and water. He made sure they would live longer. He  even made sure that their enemies would be so afraid of them, that when the enemy heard they were coming, they would turn their backs and run. In verse 28, He said they wouldn’t even have to fight! He would send hornets in ahead of them to drive out their enemies. But…He asked them to…

Be Patient and Trust Me

Exodus 23:29-30 – I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Even if the people of Israel had obeyed everything God had commanded, He wasn’t going to give them everything all at once. Even though they might have wanted everything all at once, God knew they wouldn’t be able to handle it. They needed time to increase in number and strength. They didn’t have enough people to handle all of what God had planned for them.  He also knew that spiritually they needed some time to grow. From verse 20 through the end of the chapter, He warns them, a few times, not to turn to the gods of their enemies (Which they had a habit of doing).

God has greater things planned for your life and mine than we can ever possibly imagine. He tells us that what He has for us is greater than we could ever ask or think. But He wants us to trust Him. So often, we don’t trust God and try to handle things on  our own. And much like the younger me with my dad, God is looking down saying,  “Why don’t you just do what I ask you to do?” Or, we start to trust Him, but we get impatient. We have to trust that if things aren’t happening as fast as we would like, that He probably has a really good reason for it. Know that He’ll handle it, be patient, and trust Him.