Wendy and I heard a sermon on Exodus 3 recently that seemed to apply directly to our present situation. In particular our pastor referred to verse 12 where God says to Moses, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain." Pastor Dan pointed out what has now become obvious to me, that Moses wouldn't receive the sign that God had sent him until after he had led the people out of Egypt. Did you catch that? The sign is that they will someday worship God on this mountain, Mount Horeb, on the Sinai peninsula. Moses would have to go to Egypt, face Pharoah and with God's help lead the Israelites out of Egypt before he would experience the sign showing him that he has done the right thing.

This delayed sign has made us think a lot about our present situation. Wendy and I have followed God's call to seminary, have learned Greek and Hebrew(she better than I), have now graduated and are currently looking for jobs. We believe that God is calling us to work together in a certain type of church, most likely a church plant. Yet we may not have the sign until after the church is worshipping. We, like Moses, may have to step out in faith and work according to God's call on our lives, all the while waiting for the time when that call will be confirmed by a sign.

Does this jive with how God has worked in your lives? Are we trying too hard to insert ourselves into the story of Moses? Is this way of working, giving the sign after the event is over, even fair? Does it produce more faith or more doubt?