Knowing And Doing The Will Of God
Exodus 14:15-18
I have been a pastor long enough to know that if I were to ask the question, “do you want to know God’s will for your life”, you would all respond in the affirmative. In a sense, every Christian does want to know the will of God, but the problem is that not all want to do His will.
I am sure the majority of you have prayed and asked the Lord to show you His will for your life. This is certainly an admirable prayer to pray, but we cannot ask what God’s will is and decide to obey only if we agree with it. On the contrary, when God reveals His will and plan for our lives, we must respond in full obedience.
We have the tremendous privilege to converse with our Savior. It cannot be overstated just how important prayer is in the life of a Christian. The Apostle Paul exhorted the Christians at Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing”. This admonition applies to us as well. Though we are to live in a constant spirit of prayer, we cannot spend every moment gazing into the clouds. Through the scriptures it is apparent that each of us has a special and specific calling. Our time on earth is short and there is much work for us to do concerning the Kingdom of God. Knowing this, we must make it a priority to spend much time in prayer.
We should consistently seek God concerning His will for our lives. When He graciously reveals His will to us, then we must obediently set out to accomplish the task that He assigns. In our selected text, the Children of Israel have been released from the strong hand of Pharaoh. God has delivered them from 400 years of slavery and oppression in Egypt. They have begun a new journey of hope and great expectation. But after traveling for a while they find themselves in a discouraging situation. Their enemies are approaching, and it seems that they are trapped. In front of them is the Red Sea, to the left is a mountain, to the right, another mountain and behind them is Pharaoh & the Egyptian army.
Their leader, Moses, sought the Lord for guidance and instruction. The Lord informs Moses that it is time for action. Moses responded accordingly and one of the greatest miracles in the history of the world was on the horizon. As we examine the events in the lives of Moses & the people of Israel, there is much that we can learn about how we should respond when our prayer is over, and the Lord instructs us to move forward for Him.
- I would like to review this familiar Biblical narrative and preach on the subject "Knowing and Doing The Will Of God.
- First of all, we see that:
I. IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, WE MUST LISTEN
v15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
The details of Moses' prayer is not recorded in this passage, but it is clear that he lifted up his heart to God. The Lord didn't rebuke His servant for praying, but He did make it clear that the prayer had been heard and now it was time to move.
The privilege of prayer is simply amazing. To know that we have direct, unhindered access to God is truly wonderful. But even greater is the promise that our Lord will not only hear, but He will answer our prayers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”.
Perhaps you have been praying for God to reveal His will for your life. If so, it is not enough to ask what His will is, you must be willing to listen and obey His will when He responds. There are many times when God does not answer this sort of prayer the way that we would like. Often God’s will is the exact opposite of what we would choose for ourselves.
Such a scenario had played out earlier in Moses’ life. When God initially called him, Moses was very reluctant. He made it very clear that he did not want to do what Yahweh had called him to do. He made excuses and encouraged the Lord to find someone else to serve in that capacity. Eventually Moses complied and God used him to confront Pharoh and lead Israel out of Egypt. Soon after this, the people of Israel began to grumble and complain, so much to that Moses wanted to quit. Things even got so bad at one point that Moses asked God to kill him!
There may be times in your life when you can relate to the struggles that Moses endured. God may call you to go somewhere that you do not want to go. He may call you to accomplish a task that you do not feel equipped to accomplish. There may be many tasks that the Lord required that you simply do not want to do. Even when you are obedient and comply to God’s revealed will, there may come a time when you no longer want to stay where God has sent you.
Perhaps you have been faithfully obeying God’s will, yet you are disillusioned with the task that He has assigned to you. You are tired, burned out, frustrated and ready to quit. In times such as these you must remember that God is the one who called you and He is the only one who can relinquish you of your duties. If you genuinely seek to find or remain in the center of His will, it is imperative that you listen to Him.
- After we say amen, we must listen. This verse also shows us that:
II. IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, WE MUST LABOR
v15b Tell the Israelites to go forward.
Moses obeyed the command of the Lord and led the people to this place. However, at the moment it seemed as if they were trapped. The children of Israel were of the opinion that it would have been better if they had remained as slaves in Egypt. In response, Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the Lord’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (v13). It was God’s intention for His people to move forward and He was going to continue to use Moses to lead them.
God has a way of raising up leaders to care for His people. He did this throughout the Bible and He still does so today. We live in a time when good and godly leaders are desperately needed. We need men to lead the family, we need leaders in the church, we need leaders in our government, and we need leaders in society as a whole.
Not only do we need leaders, we need laborers! Jesus instructed His Disciples to pray that the Lord would send laborers into the harvest. But the Disciples didn’t just pray for someone else to go and labor in the fields, they were actively involved in the work themselves.
All Christians have been commissioned with the task of making disciples. This process involves spiritual labor. Every day God places certain people in our path, there are many within our sphere of influence. We have the opportunity to reach these people with the Gospel. We can be used of the Lord to point lost people to Him. He can also use our faithful service to assist our saved brothers and sisters in their own spiritual progress. Never forget that the Great Commission is not merely about making converts, the command is to teach others the ways of the Lord and to make Disciples.
Dr. John Geddie went to Aneityum in 1848 and worked there for God for 24 years. On the tablet erected to his memory these words are inscribed: When he landed, in 1848, there were no Christians. When he left, in 1872, there were no heathen. (Spiritual Leadership, J. O. Sanders, p. 24).
Those of us who are saved were positively influenced by other Christians before our conversion. Even in our lost condition, God used them to teach us about the Lord. Some taught us the scriptures, other taught us by example. Through their faithfulness to accomplish God’s will in their own lives, the Lord used them to change our lives eternally.
Many of us can remember faithful preachers, teachers, VBS volunteers, nursery workers and common church members who invested in our lives. There were many others outside the local church that contributed to this process as well. Some of us had parents, grandparents, extended family, friends, classmates, and coworkers whose lives were used in a great way to lead us to the Lord Jesus. Now that we are born again, we have the same opportunity to have a positive impact on others. Not only do we have this opportunity, we have a biblical responsibility to be a positive, godly, Christ honoring influence in the lives of those around us.
Many would say that they desire such an opportunity, some even profess to pray that God would allow them to lead others to Christ and to be actively involved in discipling other Christians. While it is certainly a good thing to pray for these kinds of opportunities, we must be willing to put our prayers into action. When the prayer is over, we must labor!
As we have already seen, it appears that the Israelites are trapped. If Moses had not obeyed the instructions given to him by the Lord and lead the people accordingly, they would have been killed. Likewise, if you refuse to be the servant that God has called you to be, then the people around you will suffer greatly.
Like Moses, you may look at the task the Lord has assigned to you are being impossible. Granted, if you were to serve in your own power it would be. But we have the great assurance that with the Lord, all things are possible. This truth is of supreme importance. If you are willing to listen to the Lord and labor for Him, you are on the right track, but you simply cannot attempt to accomplish God’s will on your own. This leads us to the fact that:
III. IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, WE MUST LEAN
When I say "lean", I am speaking of trusting in the Lord. Verse 16 shows us that this is exactly what Moses did. The Lord said to Moses, “lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”
God told Moses to lift his staff and part the sea. Moses’ staff possessed no power, furthermore, he possessed no power in himself. But the power of God flowed through Moses and the people passed over on dry ground.
God may have called you to do something that seems impossible, but when you are a willing vessel and God's power flows through you, He can make the impossible possible. Perhaps God is calling you to start a new ministry. Maybe He would have you to help out in an existing ministry. It could be that He has instructed you to witness to a certain individual, or maybe He has even called you to preach. Whatever the specific task, you have prayed about it, and you want to know what is next. It is simple, your next step in the process of obeying His will is to trust Him. Prayer is vital, but before, during and after the prayer you must lean on the Lord!
- Once you listen, labor and lean, then you can stand back and watch the Lord do something amazing. The final truth I would like to consider is:
IV. IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, WE MUST LOOK
Verses 17-18 show us Who is in control. There, the Lord says “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. 18The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Moses responded in obedience to the Lord's instruction. God predicted what the result of this event would be; Pharaoh and the Egyptians would see His power and know that He was on Israel's side. Moses obeyed, the Lord moved, and that is exactly what happened.
v25 The Lord caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
Another great benefit of this amazing move of God is that Moses and the Children of Israel were also reminded that God was in control. When we are obedient and trust the Lord, when we listen to His call on our life and obey His will for us, then we too will have the privilege of watching Him accomplish what seems to be impossible. Furthermore, we have the glorious opportunity to be used by Him to accomplish the impossible.
Perhaps you have been praying that somehow, some way God would use you for His glory. Let me commend you, this is certainly a great prayer to pray. It is one that God will hear, honor and in His time and His way, He will answer.
When He does answer, you must be willing to listen to labor and lean. If you will do this, there will come a day when you have the privilege of watching God work. This is exactly what happened to Moses. The Lord called out to him and said, “now is the time to move forward, lead my people across the Jordan River”. Moses obeyed, and the Lord moved in a mighty way.
v21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
What seemed impossible, became possible because God's man obeyed Him. Moses trusted in the Lord, and he led the people to the other side. Through it all, he was able to see God at work. And in the end, it was God who received the glory. It is important to note that God’s glory should be our ultimate motivation concerning anything we set out to do in His name.
I hope that you desire to be used by the Lord. If you do, your first step is to spend time in prayer, seeking His will and direction. But when the prayer is over you must listen, labor, lean and look. If you will do this, God can and will use you to accomplish what seems to be impossible!
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