Travis Reese

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s readings, but also throughout the bible, I’m reminded of God’s willingness to see works carried out by seemingly ordinary persons. In Exodus, Moses on multiple occasions tries to explain to God why he is not necessarily up for the task to lead an entire race of people. 

In the Exodus reading, God tells Moses that he will carry out God’s will to free the Israelites from Egypt. And then Moses, perhaps overwhelmed, asks God, “Who am I…?” 

A fair question to ask. Who are any of us to do God’s work?

Moses, of course, fulfills God’s promise to the Israelites—one of many great works Moses would do in the name of the Lord. But, he could not possibly have imagined the journey or his life ahead when God first spoke to him. 

In John 14:12 we hear the words of Jesus speaking to a few of the disciples about what will happen after he’s gone. 

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

Imagine sitting with Jesus, listening to his sermons, and watching his miracles. And now he says that those who follow him and follow his father could do even greater works. Talk about overwhelming!

I assume most of us have not been asked to lead an enslaved people out of an oppressive kingdom and into a foreign land. And I’m pretty sure that none of us were witnesses to Jesus’ miracles throughout the gospels.

But I know plenty who are overwhelmed by the circumstances of their life and exhausted by the world today. And yet it seems there is still work to be done amidst our busy and stressful lives. Are these the moments that Jesus compels us to ask him for help?

How do we fulfill the works that God asks of us today? Perhaps it is as simple as believing what God says to Moses, “I will be with you.”

Faithfully,

—Travis