Prayer - As Meek As Moses

 Isn't this an odd thing to pray?

"Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us"?!

Or, how about this one,

"...for as many years as we have seen evil"?!

It seems very odd to me but that is exactly what Moses, the man of God, prayed!  You can read it for yourself in Psalm 90 verse 15 (ESV).

Can you imagine being glad for not just "days" - which is bad enough - but "years" as well, of encountering affliction and evil?  It certainly isn't on my bucket list of future joys and likely not yours either!

Whatever was Moses thinking?!

Verses 16 and 17 of this same Psalm give us a clue and it is kind of the scenario that John exclaimed in regards to Jesus, 

"He must increase but I must decrease" (John 3:30 KJV).

When we are weak, then God can come in and we, the servants of the Lord God Most High, can show us His glorious power and favor.  If we think we are so good and strong on our own, and don't need any help, how will we ever know how much better and able He can work in our lives?

Moses had ample opportunity to experience this day in and day out, year after year, as y'all well know from reading Exodus.  Those times of leading the recalcitrant children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Promised land.  It originally was only supposed to be three days of worship in the wilderness but it burgeoned into a forty year trek!  Moses KNEW what he was talking about and valued the LORD's continual input.  He valued it and absolutely NEEDED it!

May affliction and evil that besets us automatically turn us to the One who Moses valued.  May it make us glad, not just for "many days" but "many years" as well.  Focus on the Lord and not on the affliction and evil.

By the time we get to reading the book of James in the New Testament we see the same "odd" refrain,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2 NIV).

Is James out of his mind, too?  No.  He, too, realizes what Moses did.  The trials have potential to produce in us that which is needful:  perseverance, maturity, completeness, and wisdom that only God can give.  This "testing of our faith" is painful but productive (James 1:2-5 NIV).  When we cast our eyes, minds and hearts on the end result, that which the Lord wants to shape and mold within us, think "joy" and "gladness".  It is Christ in you, showing forth through the Holy Spirit's work and our submission to that work and to Him.

It would not be called, "affliction," "evil," "trials" and "testing" if it were "easy".  God's Word acknowledges that it is not.  When we become "as meek as Moses" through our perseverance for days, weeks and years on end, our Heavenly Father will have joy too as He sees us becoming "mature" and "complete" in Jesus.

Abba Father, You want Your children to "grow up," to become mature in Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Help us to submit to You, to be as meek as Moses, to the hard slog and training and upbringing You customize to each one of us.  We can tell You, for sure, it is not "fun" but we NEED You to aid and abet us to overcome all those days and years of affliction and evil as described by Moses and James.  They knew what they were talking about and didn't flippantly mix in and couple the trials with the words, "glad" and "pure joy," for kicks.

To our earthly mindset -- that is a vey odd thing to do, but we will learn to trust You and the help You give us, to be able to say the same.  Others may think we've gone bonkers, but You, oh Lord, will know the secret of our saneness, and we can be glad and rejoice together with You.

In Jesus' name we praise, pray and are glad of heart through it all.

                                                      ~ERC March 2021~

Based on Psalm 90:15-17 (ESV).

Here's a mini testimony and a song, Through It All, by the late Andrae Crouch.