Verse of the Week -- Exodus 14: 31

God continues to teach me through the life of Moses. So much of his journey I feel parallels my own as a homeschool mom.

The sometimes relentless desert experience (although mine doesn't last 40 years).

The murmuring of the troops.

Lack of faith and spiritual motivation from those placed in my care.

The need to continually relearn lessons.

Serious doubt of my own ability and worthiness to carry this role.

As I read his life I continue to pull out truths and practical practices that can help me become a more godly  guide in our homeschool journey and as an everyday mom.

This verse claimed my attention today, "Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses." Exodus 14:31 kind of wraps up where God had brought his little chicks.

God saved this immature nation from definite dismantling and slavery. They had just been eye witnesses to the 10 plagues and they still doubted his power. But three steps helped their faith inch forward.

They saw, feared, and believed. I see those as clear stair steps that must come in that progression.

They saw actual physical evidence of God at work (they had no Scripture or written historical record as they were living out the early years of the Pentateuch). They saw his miraculous hand on their nation. They saw the protecting cloud. They saw the destruction of their enemies. They saw an impossible trap turn into a miraculous escape. Of course, to see you must be looking.

You can see, but still not take the next step. As they processed, they feared. They feared God's awesome power. His firm judgement. His clear sovereignty. His unquestionable authority. 

They couldn't help but take the next step and believe. They trusted God. They trusted Moses. They had evidence, experience, and a growing personal and corporate faith to back it up. Yet, they will continue to struggle and grow in the chapters ahead.

Take it home . . . My kids need that same experience. I need to keep leading them to God. Help them see, fear, and believe, and do it all again. Even in my own life my faith grows along these steps.

Praying that God would make Himself all the more real in this year ahead. That we would see Him with greater clarity, fear Him with greater reverence, and believe Him with greater confidence.

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down! (Isaiah 64:1)

Looking to the coming school year with great expectancy.

Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

~Exodus 43:31~