The majority of us would agree that failure is quite unpleasant. In fact failure often causes guilt and ultimately shame. Guilt and shame have the ability to paralyze us, make us feel unworthy and believe that God could never use us. These feelings often cause us to respond to God in three negative ways:
• We can run before we are sent.
• We can retreat after we have failed.
• We can resist when called.
In fact Moses displays ways two and three. Why? God has called Moses to return to the scene of his greatest failure, Egypt. Not only does the mention of Egypt bring back memories of failure it brings back the horrific pain of rejection. We can understand why Moses would resist; no one wants to be forced to relive past wounds and pain. After forty years Moses is probably still remembers the failure and rejection like it was yesterday. Could God really use someone that had messed up like Moses? Well, here’s the good news. The Bible is full of stories of God using in mighty ways individuals who failed miserably. Like Moses, God can use us if we let Him heal our wounds and then trust in His power. Today, our goal is to discover how God can use us despite our past through the example of what He did with Moses.
I. Moses experienced God’s call in a very unique way.
A. For Moses it was a day just like any other day.
1. Moses was not expecting this day to be any different from any other day. Hanging out in the desert with the sheep.
2. As Moses moves the flock toward the range of mountains known as Horeb he would not be prepared for all that would take place.
3. Curiosity gets the best of Moses as he notices a bush that was on fire but wasn’t being burned up.
4. The events that take place in chapters 3 and 4 are the most significant of any chapters in the book of Exodus.
a. God will reveal His name for the first time. (Yahweh)
b. Moses will receive God’s call to lead His people.
5. On this day Moses would have an encounter that will change his life forever.
B. Moses wasn’t really sure about how to respond to God.
1. Moses not only hears God calling out to him, he encounters God’s holiness in a spectacular way.
2. God connects the dots for Moses as He tells Moses that He is the God of the patriarchs that are written about in the pages of the Genesis narrative.
3. Moses is overcome with fear because he is not sure how to respond to God so he hides his face.
4. God tells Moses that He is aware of the misery of the Hebrew people and he is going to do something about it.
5. Everything is fine with Moses until God let’s Moses know that he has a major role in the plan.
II. Moses provides excuses and God provides answers.
A. Excuse number one: “I’m a nobody.”
1. Moses does not see himself as God does; in fact Moses probably believed that his best years are all in the past.
2. He tried to help the Hebrews once and it didn’t work. So Moses views himself as a “nobody.”
3. Moses asks the logical question, “Who am I?” This question is more than likely asked out of fear rather than humility.
4. For every excuse Moses offers God will effectively answer.
B. God’s answer: “I will be there with you.”
1. God makes it clear that His power would accompany Him.
2. Moses would not be doing this by his ability it would be dependent upon God’s presence.
3. God gives Moses a sign to let him know that He would be with him through it all.
4. Just Moses asked God, “Who am I?” God lets him know who it is that is sending him.
C. Excuse number two: “What if they laugh at me and refuse to believe?”
1. After Moses had basically carded God, Moses is now fully aware of who God is and His credentials.
2. Now Moses remembers his first experience trying to deliver the Hebrews, he asks the obvious. “What if they don’t believe me?”
3. Moses does not doubt God here, he doubts himself.
D. God’s answer: “My power will back you up.”
1. God answers Moses by giving him three signs that he could use to show the people that God was with him.
a. God tells Moses to throw down his staff and it becomes a snake.
b. God tells Moses to put his hand in his coat and it turns leprous when he pulls it out and when he puts it back in and pulls it out again it is healed.
c. God tells Moses if he stretches his staff out over the Nile the water will turn to blood.
2. The staff will become quite significant as it will symbolize the fact that God’s power was accompanying Moses.
3. These signs could be performed in front of various groups of people to establish Moses’ authority.
E. Excuse number three: “I talk funny and stumble over words.”
1. We are not sure what Moses is trying to say so it is open to speculation.
a. Did Moses have a speech impediment?
b. Did Moses have a fear of public speaking?
c. Had Moses forgotten Egyptian?
2. Most scholars believe that Moses is simply using exaggerated humility to get God to let him out of this task.
F. God’s answer: “I have given you all that you will need.”
1. God quickly lets Moses know who it is that is in control of a man’s mouth.
2. The literal translation of what God says is, “I am with your mouth.”
3. Throughout the remainder of the Exodus narrative Moses seems to be able to communicate quite effectively.
4. In fact in the book of Acts Moses is described as being both powerful in word and deed.
G. Excuse number four: “God there are better candidates for this job.”
1. Moses reaches the point where he is scraping the bottom of the barrel of excuses.
2. At this point it is obvious that God’s patience with Moses is wearing thin.
3. Moses final effort amounts to him saying, “God I think you should find another man for this job. I am not the one.”
H. God’s answer: “You are my choice and I will give you an assistant.”
1. God is angered by Moses stubborn refusal to accept the call.
2. God tells Moses that He will send his brother Aaron with him as the spokesman.
3. The amazing thing is that despite Moses’ reluctance and failures God stilled wanted to use him.
III. Moses runs out of excuses and reluctantly accepts God’s call.
A. Moses finds out what happens when you run out of excuses.
1. Moses discovers that he really has no alternative but to accept the task that God had called him to.
2. Moses reluctance would come with a price. Although in His mercy God sent Aaron with him. It would be Aaron that would receive the honor of leading the priesthood.
3. As Moses prepares to begin carrying out God’s directions, he returns to his family.
B. Moses is less than thrilled with what God has asked of him.
1. Moses is obviously not thrilled by the idea as he tells Jethro nothing about what happened in the desert.
2. Moses simply asks to be able to go down to Egypt and check on his people and Jethro offers his blessing.
3. As Moses begins on the path that God had called him to, we will see that he will continue to make mistakes.
4. Despite the failures and the reluctance God will still use Him to accomplish His purpose in a mighty way.
IV. Learning to listen to God’s call.
A. God often calls us in uncommon ways.
1. When life is moving along at a normal pace God often does something out of the ordinary to get our attention.
2. God gave Moses the burning bush. Our burning bush can come in a wide variety circumstances.
3. God uses these events to get our attention. When God get’s our undivided attention things will begin to change drastically.
4. If we are not sensitive to God’s working in our lives we will miss the message he is trying deliver to us.
B. God wants us to listen for His voice and to be ready to go to work.
1. God will often call us to service at the most unusual times or at inopportune times according to our schedule.
2. The question is, “Do we have the faith to drop what we are doing and do what God is call us to do?”
3. We need to remember that God is fully aware of our situation and better yet He is in complete control of it.
4. God will call us to service even if we have disappointed Him the past.
C. God will restore us even when we have failed miserably.
1. Even after we have really blown it God is ready to dust us off and use us again when the time is right.
2. We need to remain obedient and continue to wait until God call us again.
3. The mark of someone maturing spiritually is that they are always ready and waiting for God to call.
4. Where do you find yourself today?
Closing:
Failures take on a life of their own because the brain remembers incomplete tasks or failures longer than success or completed activity. That is called the “Zeigarnik effect.” When a project or a thought is completed, the brain places it in a special memory. The brain no longer gives the project priority or active working status, and bits and pieces of the achieved situation begin to decay. But failures have no closure. The brain continues to spin the memory, trying to come up with ways to fix the mess and move it from active to inactive status.
