Running From or Running Towards…

By Dean Collins

I have a grandson who loves to run. He is a very good runner and competes at a national level. As early as age four or five, I can remember being at his brother’s baseball game or at a park and he would ask, “Can I go run around?” And he did just that. Sometimes he ran as far as he could while staying in my sight and then turn around and run back, and other times he just ran in circles. He seems to have been born to run. 

I have another grandson who seems to have been born to hunt and fish. Ever since his preschool days, he is constantly talking about, reading about, or asking if he can go catch something. He was catching fish in his preschool years and killed his first buck last year at age 10.

Psychologists and researchers continue to do research on whether our character and our various personality traits are genetic or develop because of how we are raised. The answer is, yes, though no one has figured out just what percentage genes or environmental factors determine our tendencies.

So, what about Moses? Was he a born rescuer? As a baby, he was rescued from being drowned in the Nile river by the courageous women who surrounded him. Did that experience create in him a tendency to rescue others?

We don’t know much about the experiences Moses had in his first 40 years, other than that he was raised in a royal household, which would have included privileges not enjoyed by the common Egyptian citizen. Being in Pharaoh’s household also kept him from experiencing the harsh treatment that his family and others would have suffered as slaves in Egypt.

In Exodus 2, we find that the rescue instinct of Moses kicked in when he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses stepped in and struck the Egyptian. Whether he intended to kill him we really don’t know, but he quickly buried his victim in the desert sand. Even without video surveillance, Moses was still scene by another Hebrew who asked Moses, “Who made you prince and judge over us?”

In this case when Moses ran toward the Egyptian, he chose to take justice into his own hands. Next, we find him running from Egypt because when Pharaoh heard what Moses had done, he wanted to hold Moses accountable. In the next scene, we find Moses running toward the shepherds who were preventing the daughters of Reuel from getting water for themselves and for their flocks. But this time, Moses did not kill anyone in his pursuit of justice, demonstrating some possible steps towards maturity. His actions of helping Reuel’s daughters resulted in Reuel’s favor, and as a result, he was given one of the daughters as his wife.

Psalm 139 gives us a powerful picture that reminds us that wherever we go, God is always pursuing us. He knows when we get up and when we go to bed.  He knows our thoughts, both when we think it is our job to rescue and when we make bad choices that result in pain to others. He knows all about our family history and all our tendencies, both the good ones and the ones we learned in the midst of family dysfunction.

Some lessons are hard to learn and take time. One of those lessons is that ultimately God doesn’t need us to be the rescuers of his creation. But out of his great love, he rescued us from our sin and continues to transform us daily by his Holy Spirit who lives in us. The remarkable thing about God’s plan is that he has called us into a kingdom partnership where he wants to use us in the renewal of all things. We can’t fix all things, but as we trust God with our whole heart and do not lean on our understanding of how to fix things, he steps in and makes all things new.

So, if you are going to run somewhere today, run into the arms of our loving God. He will give you rest, love, grace, mercy, and then guide you toward who you can share his love with, even today.

Father, thank you for the gift of your Son who forgives our sins and makes us whole. We offer our lives to you today. Send us wherever you choose, that we might bring you glory through our obedience. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Exodus 2:11-22, 23-25; Psalm 139:2-10 ESV

Photo by Jeremy Lapak on Unsplash
To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.