Exodus 3:7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.

Exodus 4:1 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’?”

If you are familiar with Moses’ response to God speaking to Him, then you know that He was not at all confident that he would be able to accomplish the great task before him. Moses was certain that he was ill equipped, unqualified, and no match for the Egyptian ruler. Moses felt hopeless to accomplish the task because in his mind, God was asking him to do this in his own power.

Anytime we live life assuming we have to accomplish God’s plan in our own power it will lead us to hopelessness. The truth is that life requires God’s power to accomplish His purpose. Anytime we consider doing one without the other we will waste a lot of time wondering “what if.” What-ifs come by assuming that we have to do God’s will in our own power.

I believe that most people live by one of two assumptions.

Assumption 1: I will have to do this on my own.
The only way I will beat this addiction is on my own. The only way I will ever conquer this giant is on my own. The only way I will ever provide for my family is on my own. When that is your thinking you will constantly back down from obeying God’s words and receiving God’s blessings because your human reasoning will talk you out of it. The reason many people don’t obey God is because they don’t believe that God can come in and provide what they cannot provide. This is why people do not trust God with their relationships, their finances, or their careers. They assume that all the weight of success lies on their own efforts so they never trust God enough to give Him room to move in their life.

Assumption 2: God will enable me.
The second assumption people make is that if God has called me He will enable me. This assumption is better known as a little thing called faith. Jesus said a little faith could move big mountains. What if we lived our lives confident that God was going to show up when we acted on His word?

What if we assumed that when we pray for people God will heal them?
What if we assumed that when we witness to our neighbor, even if they reject us at the moment, that God is using us in a chain of events that will ultimately bring them to salvation?
What if we assumed that God is able to meet all of our needs according to His riches in glory so when he challenges us to give, we give in confidence that God has this covered?
What if we assumed that if God puts a desire in our heart He is going to provide the opportunity for us to live it out?
What if we assumed that when God shows us a need that needs to be taken care of He will also give us the power to take care of it?
What if we assumed that God is greater than what we are facing instead of assuming it is greater than us?
What if 1 John 4:4 (“…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”) is really true?

Today’s Challenge: Understand that God is greater than your opposition. Don’t spend your day wondering about what-ifs. Instead, step out and express faith knowing that when you act according to His word He never lets you down.

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a message recently presented at CFA. To listen to this message or others go to www.pastorgregsanders.com