Faith Extinguishers

Chapter three of the book of Exodus gives the account of God commissioning Moses to bring His people out of Egypt:  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:10-12)

Can you imagine what must have initially gone through Moses’ mind as he contemplated the impossible task just given him by God?  There were approximately three million Hebrews in Egypt.  Pharaoh commanded the most powerful army on the face of the globe at that time; and if he did decide to let them go, how would Moses care for some three million people in a desert?  Moses made the same initial mistake that we all do when called by God to do the impossible-he looked to himself.  Moses said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”  That’s just it; it’s not who we are but who He is!  God responded, “I will certainly be with you”.  That’s how it’s going to happen, because God is with us!

God calls us to do the impossible.  We are thrust into situations that overwhelm us.  All of God’s dealings with us are designed to create maximum dependency on Him.  This is God’s way throughout scripture.  He asked Noah to build a boat large enough to place every species of life on it when it had at that time never even rained.  He asked Joshua to conquer the great walled city Jericho by observing a week of silence followed by a single shout.  He asked Gideon to watch as God reduces his number of warriors from four-to-one odds to now four-hundred-to-one in favor of the enemy and then give them a pitcher and a lamp for weapons.

What would have happened to all these men of faith if they had tried to figure out how these things would happen?  The paralysis of analysis is the faith extinguisher.  Many have been paralyzed by fear, unable to move forward in obedience to God because they were asking the same question Moses asked, “Who am I?”  What if Moses had continued to look at his own ability to provide for three million people in the desert?  He would have never gone to Egypt.  He would have never seen the great miracles and displays of God’s mighty power.

The first great miracle needed would be the release of these people from Pharaoh’s grasp.  Next, one of the greatest mathematical miracles in the world would be required in the desert to sustain these three-million people.  Now that Moses had led them out of Egypt, what was he going to do with them in the desert?  How would he provide food and water for this many people?  I read an article written by the Quartermaster General of the United States Army.  This man knows what kind of resources it takes to move large groups of people from one place to another and care for them in the process.

According to the Quartermaster, Moses would have needed 1,500 tons of food each day.  That much food would fill two freight trains each a mile long!  Besides, you must remember, they are out in a desert and would have needed firewood to use in cooking their food.  This would take 4,000 tons of wood each day.  They were in transit for 40 years!  Oh yes, they would have needed water.  If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would have taken 11,000,000 gallons each day-that’s enough water to fill a freight train 1,800 miles long!

And then another thing!  They had to get across the Red Sea in one night.  In the Biblical movies from Hollywood depicting the Red Sea crossing, they always show the water divided with a narrow path with a wall of water visible on each side.  What a joke!  If they had went on a narrow path, double file, the line would have been 800 miles long and would have required 35 days and nights to get through.  So that means that in order for that many people to cross over in one night, there had to be a space of 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to make it over in one night!  Our God is always so much larger than we try to make Him.  That’s why David say in Psalm 34:3, Oh, magnify the Lord with me.  Think about this: Every time they camped at the end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, a total of 750 square miles.

Do you think that Moses had all this figured out before he ever walked into Egypt?  Of course not!  Moses believed in God.  His confidence was not in his ability, but in God’s ability.  He had faith that God was going to take care of these things for him.  Don’t let faith be extinguished by fear.  Don’t allow the paralysis of analysis to stop you from obeying God.  Take courage; we still serve the same God.  It doesn’t matter how impossible your problems or situation appears, remember what God did for Moses.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!