During the First World War, Oswald Chambers was walking past a woman’s house accompanied by his wife, Biddy. The woman was very sick, and Biddy asked, “I wonder what God is going to do?” Chambers replied, in essence, that he was more concerned about who God is versus what He would choose to do. Now these weren’t the words of a man indifferent to the suffering of another person. He merely spoke of his total reliance on the personality and character of God, rather than merely hoping for what He might do. Though concerned for the woman and her condition, the character of his Creator was enough for Chambers to rest in what would happen next.
In Exodus 3, Moses received a cryptic statement from God about His character. You might think it would have been better for him to receive some encouragement from God regarding His power or a revelation of future knowledge in order to spur His servant on. Instead, God stated with authority that He is the “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This was enough, apparently! God presented who He is by an intimate name: the God who Is; the One who is able to deliver, rescue, and keep His covenant with His people. He gave no promise of health, prosperity, or popularity—just His name!
In the New Testament, Peter declared this about Jesus and His name: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). He meant that Jesus, the Messiah, was the “Christ” and “the anointed one of God.” And Jesus once declared of Himself, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM” (John 8:58). In other words, He said that He was one with the God who spoke in Exodus 3.
Is Jesus enough for you and me? May we rest in Him and His loving character—He’s the one and only I AM!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Psalm 8:1-9
More:
Read John 6:53-71. What would your reaction be to such a teaching, and is Jesus enough when His words don’t seem to make sense?
Next:
How do you react when you see injustice in the world, or when circumstances are against you and God seems to be silent? Can you rest in His character and in what His name reveals about Him?
doctor-perspective on May 13, 2016 at 1:31 am
Is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit enough? The unequivocal answer must be that He is more than enough. But what does that mean for us as Christians? In response to Moses’ question, God gave a very “mystical” answer, and one that really did not make sense to Moses. In fact, down the ages, the literal text that is loosely translated “I am who I am” in many different versions, has never been fully understood, because it represents the intersection between God and man. And man cannot understand God. We understand a fair amount about the past, thanks to our history books and teachers. We understand even less about the present, because it is dynamic and fleeting and lasts only for a split second. We understand nothing about the future, that is, until the future becomes the present, and swiftly transcends into the sprawling past. God on the other hand, is at the same time all that is past, all that is present and all that is future. That will never make sense to any mortal, and it did not make sense to Moses either.
Now this is where I breathe a sigh of relief. God met Moses where he was, at the point that he could understand, and gently nursed him to the point He wanted him to be. In the very next verse, God told Moses His name – Yahweh. “I am” is not the Name of God. I am is who God is. Yahweh is the Name by which God wishes to be known. “This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.” (Exodus 3:15). God answered Moses’ questions; showed him signs; gave him assurances; and even compromised with Moses by including Aaron his brother in a modified two-man rescue operation. God did the same thing for Gideon. It was not until three signs and wonders later that Gideon was ready to accept the role that God had ordained for him.
We all are at different stages along our journey. God is intimately acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses, and short-comings and desires of each of us, and will meet us at the lowest point of our greatest need. He reached down, so that we don’t have to stretch up! In the context of a relationship with Him, God will go out of His way to demonstrate to us that He is enough!
raptoreagle on May 13, 2016 at 3:41 am
Thank you for this..
God bless you!
hsnpoor on May 13, 2016 at 10:52 am
Let the church say “AMEN”!
Gary Shultz on May 13, 2016 at 6:40 am
Russell, there has been a lot of information already. These sayings were and are in and of themselves somewhat difficult. When we say, our Heavenly Father or Father the total essence of God is implied and that makes it more adaptable to our thinking. Of course you did not stop with that thought, you are pulling it to a working application in our lives; what do we do? And we come to the question Jesus asked the disciples “Are you also going to leave?” Does our faith, belief, hold in today’s world? As Jim says, it can be as big, as much, as we want it to be. God is who He is, can we live with and apply that? Nice, Russell.
sdwise on May 13, 2016 at 7:40 am
Sometime we can make God’s word complicated by not just accepting what He tells us. When He said to Moses tell pharoah “I Am who I Am” sent him, it was for pharoah to understand through God’s power who sent him. Moses and believers should know He is God and what that means to us.
hsnpoor on May 13, 2016 at 11:09 am
And I hope it means that he is not just ENOUGH, he is MORE THAN ENOUGH! I think I harp on this and get so exercised because I’m just absolutely indignant that so much of the present Christian community preaches, teaches and acts like God is their personal servant. That they can take scripture out of the context in which it is set and twist & turn it to demand that God heal their bodies, make them wealthy with worldly wealth, give them the man/woman of their dreams, etc., because of the quality/quantity of their faith, and call it “standing on the promises of God”. This thinking so denigrates who God is and confuses so many of those looking to come into a true saving relationship with Him; and even those who have such a relationship. Sometimes if just makes me sad, but most of the time, I have to admit it just makes me really, really mad, which is not good because anger tends to cloud my judgment and causes things to fly out my mouth that I regret. Gotta find an even keel of heart, mind and expression because the Lord seems to be presenting this issue along my path fairly frequently. I need prayer, Saints. Please pray me through….
gagirllive on May 13, 2016 at 11:53 am
I hear ya!
gagirllive on May 13, 2016 at 11:40 am
Just for clarification sdwise, the text says that God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel, not Pharoah.
jim spillane on May 13, 2016 at 12:02 pm
sdwise – not to sound argumentative here, but my understanding is that when Moses went to Pharoah he was to say to him “let my people go.” If you look at Exodus 3:10-15, pay particular attention to verses 13-15.
Tom Felten on May 13, 2016 at 11:00 am
Russell, yes, it’s because of God’s character that we can face the stuff of life with hope. We trust Him when things are hard—rejoicing in His presence. We rest in Him when things are good—rejoicing in His provision. All of this is because of His loving, good, kind character!
godlove on May 13, 2016 at 3:21 pm
Amen, Tom. God is good all the time!
gagirllive on May 13, 2016 at 12:01 pm
Out on the road for several days, folks. Won’t be saying much (do I hear some of you cheering?), but I’ll be checking in on the community. Great word today, Russell. I’m singing “Hallelujah, Holy, Holy, God Almighty, the Great I AM…Who is worthy, none beside Thee, God Almighty, the Great I AM”…
hsnpoor on May 13, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Well, you take your device with you and let us hear from you from the road, right? Or, is this just a polite way of saying you’re taking a vacation from us?…:) Whichever way it goes, safe travels!
godlove on May 13, 2016 at 3:14 pm
I’m certainly cheering…
for you 🙂 and praying that God continues to keep you and watch over you.
gagirllive on May 13, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Awww…thanks godlove and hsnpoor! Y’all make me feel loved! (This is all said in my sweetest southern accent.) 🙂
clb1984 on May 13, 2016 at 12:32 pm
Father
You are the One who can change all and fix all!!! I work against you so often and still, You love me and fix my mistakes!! You are my Lord and Savior and I pray that in the future I choose to work with You and not against You!!~!
godlove on May 13, 2016 at 3:06 pm
Jesus is certainly more than enough, Russell, thanks for this insightful post about God’s character. However, I was very much intrigued by the “Next” section. The question is rightly put: is Jesus enough when His words don’t seem to make sense? After He has died and resurrected, we have the benefit of hind-sight and the witness accounts of the apostles who walked with Jesus during His earthly life which gives us all the necessary evidence that He is God indeed. Putting myself in the shoes of the disciples at that time, it must have been quite difficult (even for those who stayed) to accept such difficult teachings. This makes me all the more grateful to God for giving me a heart to believe His Word when I heard it, and for enabling me to accept Jesus Christ. I think it’s a special grace, a special favour, to belong to the fold of believers in Christ Jesus.
godlove on May 13, 2016 at 3:10 pm
Sorry, I meant the “More” section.