Text: Exodus 2:23–25 & 3:4–4:17

Six Steps Everyone Christian Leader Takes:  *You can go thru this cycle/steps more than once in your life

• First Step: Moses’ self-reliance, self-wisdom coupled with Impulse Control issues – led to him killing an Egyptian (2:11-15) Fear of Man & On the Run – Moses relying on Moses was a Failure! So he Runs…300 miles into the wilderness. I don’t know if he was running away to find himself or to forget himself….but he is on the Run.Are you on the Run…trying to make life happen on your own, trying to be the solution to every problem, or tired or afraid – so you are on the run from something, not to something.

 

• Second Step: (2:15 BIG Moment!) 300 miles of running…Moses finally sits down by the well and stops running God does some of his best work with people who have run out of places to run.Before you can change directions you have to stop running. Moses stopped chasing things, stopped….just stopped – was not trying to be or do anything – but be present to himself and eventually to God.

 

• Third Step: He speaks the truth out loud in naming his son: (2:22) Gershom – “I am a stranger in a strange land” – It’s more than a name, it’s a confession: I am not sure who I am – I am Lost! – It’s a huge step for Moses – Moses moves away from living in an Illusion.

 

Barton: “When we fail to name reality accurately, we are left to wander around in the wilderness of our illusions — hiding from ourselves, hiding from others and hiding from God. We remain in bondage, unable to move forward. The good news is that when we name our situation correctly, even if it’s terribly painful to acknowledge — we become real and open to change.”

 

Are you able to name your reality accurately or do you live in an illusion or in aspirations but not accuracy? If you are lost or wandering in the wilderness right now – can you say that out loud – or does everything have to be “Great”

 

• Fourth Step: (3:3) “Moses turned aside…when he did, God called” – “turned aside” = Detour…Meaning – I decided to get on a different road. **I can’t be sure the tone: But the picture I have is a parent calling out the name of their lost child in a department store – and the child hears a familiar voice and responds: “Here I am”Have you stopped long enough to look around, maybe to see something about yourself or God you haven’t seen previously? Are you willing to take a permanent detour from your current course?

 

• Fifth Step: (3:6) – Fear of Man (Pharaoh/Hebrews) gets replaced by the Fear of God. There is something BIGGER in Moses life now, bigger than Pharaoh and bigger than Himself! (Proverbs 1:7 – “The Fear of God, is the beginning of Wisdom”) – OK, Moses is finally on the right road – with God!What fear drives you forward? How do you overcome fears from the world and replace it with fear of God?

 

• Sixth Step: (3:10) – “Come, I will send you….” – Moses was given a Mission. When you meet God, you are given a Mission. Look at (3:10) “Come, I will send YOU to Pharaoh, that YOU may bring my people out of Egypt.” ( 8) — “I have come down to deliver.” Then (vs. 10) — “I will send you.” (You can almost hear Moses thinking: “ummm – God — I don’t recall volunteering for this!”)

 

When you go through your week, month, year – do you think of yourself as someone “on Mission” – NOTICE: Moses doesn’t volunteer – he get assigned!

We are intended to find ourselves in Moses’ story. Review – ask where are you?

And here’s what to watch for: God answers all five of Moses’ excuses. But not once does God answer an excuse by talking about Moses. Every single answer is about God. Moses keeps saying, “I can’t.” And God keeps saying, “I AM.”

1. God’s Passion turns into Our Mission

• ( 7-9) We hear God’s passion for his people: “I see the affliction, I heard their cry, I know their sufferings, I see the oppression” Now, if we stopped reading at (vs. 9) – Moses could have shouted “Amen!” – What a glorious day: I was lost in the Wilderness Department store and was finally found by God! And, and I learned that “God is coming down to deliver my people from Egypt — wonderful! I tried it 40 years ago by killing an Egyptian soldier and it didn’t work out so well – But now God is involved – I am sure he will get it done! **Great – I’m 80 years old, and I will go back to tending sheep. You Go – God!But look at verse 10: “Come, I will send YOU to Pharaoh, that YOU may bring my people out of Egypt.” (vs. 8) — “I have come down to deliver.” Then (vs. 10) — “I will send you.” (You can almost hear Moses thinking: “ummm – God — I don’t recall volunteering for this!”)

But We make EXCUSES. We don’t want to make the jump:

2. Five Excuses Meet One Name (Exodus 3:11–4:17)Ruth Haley Barton puts her finger on why: “Any kind of authentic calling usually takes us to a place where we have serious objections of some sort, places where we feel inadequate… At some point we think what God is asking us to do is downright impossible, or we just don’t want to take the risk.”. Listen to the excuses & how God answers.

 

• Excuse #1 — “Who am I?” (3:11) — the Identity excuse.
  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” It sounds humble, doesn’t it? – He cant’ be God’s first Draft Choice. God’s answer (vs. 12): “I will be with you.” God does not answer the question! He replaces Moses’ question with a statement of Reality. Moses isn’t central – God is! God telling Moses: “It’s not about YOU!”

 

• Excuse #2 — “Who are You?” (3:13) — the Authority excuse.
  Moses: OK – You will be with me but…..WHO ARE YOU? – I really love this question: Moses was trying to figure out who God Is! Is God powerful, is he trustworthy? – God doesn’t rebuke Moses….Instead, God gave Moses time to figure God out….He gives us time as well.*When we ask one another: “Who are you?” We answer by borrowing from something: Name, Role, Work, Ethnicity….God doesn’t borrow because he is Self-Existent – I AM!

 

• Excuse #3 — “They won’t believe me” (4:1) – the Credibility excuse. “Behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice.” You have to smile at that word “behold” — Moses is attempting to point out something God must have missed! “God, behold — I see something You don’t.” Moses has greater confidence in what Moses sees than in what God sees.

 

• Excuse #4 — “I can’t speak” (4:10) — the Ability excuse.
  “I am not eloquent… I am slow of speech and of tongue.” (For a man who can’t speak, Moses is doing a pretty good job arguing with God!) But look at God’s answer (vs. 11–12): “Who has made man’s mouth?… Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth.” Moses’ limited ability wasn’t News to God – God was not concerned about Moses’ Ability – God’s looking for Moses’ Availability

 

• Excuse #5 — “Send someone else” (4:13) — the Real excuse.
  The mask finally comes off. Four excuses dressed up as questions — and underneath all of them: “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Moses’ excuses served as cover for the real problem – His real problem – His Will. – Moses excuses were ways to conceal his real desire – Moses didn’t want to be available for God’s plan.

 

Questions:

1. Review the Six Steps – Where are you? What step was the most challenging for you to take in the past?
2. Review Five Excuses – What excuses do you regularly use to hide from what God has called you to do?

• The Daily Office 10-9-26
• IL Handout 10-9-26