“But Moses protested again,
‘What if they won’t believe me or listen to me?
What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you?’”
Exodus 4:1
With doubt harassing his mind, Moses continues his persistent protests with what if questions. As we observed in the previous chapter, worry and doubt can easily become our constant companions when we have a distorted view of who we are and who God is.
I find it interesting that God does not specifically answer Moses’ what if questions. Instead, He asks Moses a question: “What’s in your hand?” It seems God wanted to shift Moses’ mind from worry and doubt to action…what can I do, how can I take responsibility? Then He proceeded to show Moses what he and GOD could do TOGETHER, a key focus for us in-the-midst of our own doubts!
I also notice that the very outcomes Moses feared did NOT come to pass. Later in the chapter we read that the elders of Israel DID listen, and they DID believe, exactly as God had promised! God wanted Moses to realize that if Almighty God was on his side, victory was inevitable!
So even though Moses’ what if questions were proved invalid, there is another what if we should always consider…What if the Lord was NOT on our side? (Ps. 124:1) I’m not sure I want to hear that answer!
