“Do Not Doubt God’s Presence; He Is Always With You!”

“Do Not Doubt God’s Presence; He Is Always With You!”
We possibly would never have gotten into this quagmire if decentralisation had effectively taken off when it was first pronounced. We made some noises – though in hushed voices – when a Government Delegate refused to read a prepared speech and read openly what he had in mind. Today the grass have decided to suffer in their own preferred way and not through the trampling caused by the fight of two elephants.
Decentralisation would’ve been welcomed then not as best choice but as a “lesser evil” or as Frederick Forsyth would prefer, “the devils alternative!”
If Moses had trained others to act in his stead, the people would not have asked Aaron to make for them a god in the long absence of Moses. They needed another god because they didn’t know what had happened to “this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt…”
When they came to Aaron he did not help matters, probably because Moses had never given him full rein to excercise his gifts according to his ability. We may also argue that when he asked the people to bring all their golden ornaments he wanted to discourage them. He may have hoped that they would consider how precious and expensive those golden ornaments were and forget about the request for a god.
However, if that probability was the case Aaron would not have built an alter before the golden calf made out of them. Worst still he would not have declared that “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.”
Whatever the people’s sin, upon return with the two stone tablets Moses worsened matters by throwing away the baby with the bath water! “…his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces…” (Ex.32:1-6&15-20).
Two wrongs do not make a right. Moses led the people into idolatory by making himself a focal point. No matter how much God was with them in their exodus the people still considered Moses as the one who brought them out of Egypt.
This is a lesson for us that whoever has the responsibility of leading people to Christ should not become the focus, but should remain only a means towards the ultimate.
God is Spirit and as Spirit he is always with us. We do not always need the presence of a Moses to know that God in Christ Jesus is with us even in our worst moments.
Weekend prayer: Lord, destroy whatever idol I may have made to replace you in my life in the mighty name of Jesus!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!