Exodus 4:1

New International Version

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

For Meditation 

What if – the Scarecrow in the field of all humanity! 

These two letters have intimidated billions of people since Eden’s fall. Imagine the terror they might have struck in the heart of Adam when Eve may have verbalized them for the first time as they hid from God (Genesis 3:8). 

“What if God finds out what we have done? What if He discovers our hideout? What are we going to say, Adam; what are we going to do? We are doomed!” And indeed, they were doomed, but tragically, not just them but all of humanity. 

The inherent power of the “what if”question drives fear into hearts and turns the brave away from their well-crafted and prized proposals. Warriors have retreated from the battlefield at the whisper of those two words in their ears. Their courage waned, forcing them to re-evaluate their strategies and instigating them to make calamitous mistakes of their lives. 

Sometimes, it is the fear it causes that produces insecurity (Judges 6:13, 15), failure (36), rejection (Genesis 24:5), or a dreaded outcome (50:15) that paralyzes many. In the words of Chuck Swindoll, it pushes people to the ragged end of their strength, the dregs of their hope, the broken shards of their plans. They look for a shortcuts and fall on carnal options.

God called Moses from the burning bush and sent him to Pharaoh with a message to let His people go (Exodus 3:19). The Almighty had set the misery of His people before him. He had heard their crying under the burden of their cruel slave drivers. God had come to deliver them, so He chose Moses to lead His rescue mission (7-10). What an opportunity for Moses! What authority and power God vested in him! But Moses balked. He had questions, and God graciously led him to overcome his fears. Not only was Moses threatened by the anticipated response of Pharaoh (11), he feared the rejection of his own people.

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (4:1).

I am so thankful that God is patient and kind. He moves His beloved with His gracious hand to the place of His divine blessings and away from the fear that cripples us. God does these through the power and encouragement of His word, the nudging of the Holy Spirit, or the instrument of a mature believer. He empowers them to rise above their fears and ride on the victory of Christ to conquer the screaming terror of the query, “What if…”

But there is more. 

Expounding on the doctrine of election and God’s purposes, Paul raises two divine “What ifs.”

“What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”

If this scripture does not cause you to snap out of your gloom – if it does not drive that paralyzing fear from your heart, replacing it with courage, boldness, and joy – I do not know what else would. 

Never forget this, my friend, that you were an object of God’s wrath, but God, who is rich in mercy, patiently held back His sovereign right and power to destroy you. God did this to demonstrate His glory and cause it to outshine everything in your life as He graciously walks with you into His eternal presence in glory. Now that is why He called you onto Himself – the purpose of our redemption.

So, why not celebrate Jesus today?