“And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?” (Ex 5:22-23).

When God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt it took some persuading. Moses had no confidence in himself to lead. God had to reassure him that He would be behind him with all His mighty power. All that Moses had to do was to trust and obey and God would do the rest. But the results of his first attempt at trusting and obeying the Lord didn’t turn out as he hoped. In fact, things went from bad to worse. Not only did Pharaoh refuse to let the people go, he made their lives even more miserable by increasing their work load. Therefore, Moses filed a formal complaint to the Lord and personally delivered it. Moses cried unto the Lord saying, “Why is it that Thou has sent me.” God graciously responded to Moses and reassured him that He would deliver Israel and display His power through Pharaoh’s stubbornness and pride. Moses was to continue to trust and obey.

Spurgeon, while preaching on the obedience of faith wrote, “Theirs not to reason why; Theirs but to dare and die.” Spurgeon no doubt was quoting Alfred Tennyson, who wrote a similar phrase in his famous poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” In the poem, Tennyson writes about the bravery and heroism of soldiers, who at the command of their superiors charged into battle against all odds. God could have responded to Moses, “Yours is not to reason why; Yours is but to dare and die.” Who is Moses and who are we to question God? Paul wrote, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” (Rom. 9).

Although it is foolishness for us to question God, He knows that we are but dust and he let’s us do it. And sometimes He even gives us an answer. But not always. Sometimes we must march forward into the fray trusting that God knows what He’s doing. The reason that we enjoy the freedoms that we have today is because of those who without hesitation obeyed their orders and fought for those freedoms even if it cost them their lives. Let us never forget not only their sacrifices, but the sacrifice of our Savior who in obedience to the Father laid down his life to save our souls. May we have the kind of faith in our great Savior to be willing to say, “It’s not for me to reason why; It’s but for me to dare and die.” God knows what He’s doing. When we trust and obey, His grace will see us through. Take up your cross and follow Jesus.

©2012 Marco David. Originally posted on Marco David’s Blog.