Wednesday June 29, 2011
Read: Exodus 3
The Israelites were in Egypt suffering 400 years of slavery (this was prophesied in Genesis 15:13-14). When their days of drudgery were almost over God went to a simple shepherd named Moses and appointed him to be the leader of all the Israelites and to free them from slavery. Since God is no little God, He didn’t show up in a small way, and He sure wasn’t going to let His children sneak out the back door. God was going to make this victory BIG.
Picture Moses, an ordinary man, out doing the boring things that he did every day when all of the sudden, he sees a fire in some bushes. He stops and thinks to himself in wonderment, “What in tarnation is going on here? This bush is not burning up. AMAZING!?” He hesitantly approaches to check it out when he hears a voice calling his name from within the midst of the fiery splendor. Moses’ response was probably that of any Average-Joe-Shepherd- a sheepish, “Here, here I a-a-am”. Then the voice knocks the sandals off Moses’ feet by telling him that the ground he was standing on was holy. The rest of the story is, as they say, history.
God is an AMAZING GOD, and He wanted to use Moses to do something amazing in the lives of His chosen people. I believe that He still wants to do something amazing in the lives of His selected ones today. 1 Peter 2:9 says: “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, His very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” This means that you are CHOSEN and CALLED to do something AMAZING in the lives of others. Do you believe that? Amazement is the perfect combination of fear and excitement, curiosity and satisfaction, bewilderment and awe.
Allow God to catch your attention in such a way that you are drawn closer to where He is, humbled before Him, and ready and willing to do what He asks of you.
Process:
Is there a time in your life where you were stopped on your tracks because something incredible was happening right before you eyes?
-God revealed himself in an amazing way to Moses. Do you believe that his revelation in your life could be just as breathtaking? How will you respond to a God who chooses and calls you?
Wednesday June 29, 2011 continued…
Read: Exodus 4
In Exodus 3:6 Moses found the experience of being in God’s presence so intense that he “hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”. In chapter 4 we see something different in Moses. He’s afraid, but he’s afraid to tell people the message that God gave him to proclaim. God soon makes it clear that He’ll provide proof of His power to help the people believe (turning a staff into a snake is pretty impressive).
It turns out that Moses doesn’t doubt God’s message, but he doubts himself and starts to point out his weaknesses to God. God reminds Moses that He’s fully aware of any flaws he may have and is powerful enough to overcome them. It’s pretty amazing how much fear had crippled Moses because it takes a lot of persuading before Moses is convinced to obey. (Is it safe to say we’ve all done this?)
The important thing, however, is that Moses does obey. He listens to the plan that God has for him, and even though it freaks him out, he chooses to say “yes”. He puts himself in the mercy of God, making himself vulnerable. He goes to Egypt and speaks; he dies to fear. Really, the guy has to trust that this is important and that he was the one chosen for the job—and that God will accomplish it through him and work out the details.
The obedience of Moses (and of his brother Aaron) also lets the people of God hear of His compassion—that their God knows about their slavery and cares enough to rescue them. The character of God is revealed: He is a God who loves and a God who delivers. God wants to take His children out of their slavery; He wants to free them of oppression. He wants to let them know how He’s going to do it, through His prophets.
Something else terrific happens because Moses lives out God’s call to action. The people respond in the best possible way: “they bowed low and worshiped” (v.31). Here the people of Israel are fulfilling two major things that God calls us to, humility and worship of Him only. No one else is worthy of worship (Deut. 5:6-10; Rev.19:10); when we humble ourselves before Him (bowing low is a physical way of showing this) we do a major part of what He asks of us. “…and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8).
It’s good to choose to obey God! When He speaks to us and gives us direction, the best thing we can do is put our own agenda and doubts aside, and do what He’s tells us to do. He loves us, cares for us, and can be trusted.
Process:
Despite his lack of confidence Moses chooses to believe God instead of himself. His obedience allowed the others to respond to God too. Do you feel like you need to step up to the plate and show leadership? How will do that this week? When you’re back home?