Next Right Steps: May It Be So
Exodus 33:12-13
Moses said to the Lord, âSee, you have said to me, âBring up this peopleâ; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, âI know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.â Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.â
God only gives Moses half of the information in this pericope. God gives a command, âBring up this people,â but God withholds the comfort of knowing whom God will send with Moses.
I can relate to Mosesâ frustration. My prayer life often feels dominated by similar complaints. Hearing Godâs call is not usually the problem. I can feel God pulling me to go and serve. I am all-too-often aware of God nudging me to speak up, to step up, to share my resources. But, like Moses, I fear Godâs silence concerning whom will go with me, stand with me, act alongside me.
There is such fragile beauty in taking the next right step. And so, when I feel God offering commands without the comfort of a companion, I offer my frantic, pleading mantra: âHelp me take the next right step. And help me not fall off a cliff.â
I am amazed by the spiritual companions I have found as Iâve followed this mantra. When I was too afraid to write a letter to the editor, a colleague emailed me as I was working on a draft. When I was fearful of going to a rally, friends asked for a ride on Facebook.
More importantly, I have found Godâs companionship in the step-taking, giving me the wisdom, courage, and words when I needed them most. I think thatâs what Moses found, too.
And so, I continue to pray angry prayers like Moses does above. And Iâve learned to pray for the next right step, as well. Thankfully, God listens to both.
Here’s a prayer for today: Holy One, remember that we are your people. Help us find the next right steps, together. Amen.