Jacqui Wakelam - It's Time to Stand Up!
I’m intrigued to read about Moses at the moment, I’ve many questions for God about this man’s life and spiritual journey. For instance, when did he begin to stutter and stammer? The bible doesn’t say he had this issue prior to leaving Egypt? Did he develop this self conscious habit after fleeing in fear and shame? Had his ‘self’ confidence suffered such a blow he was now humbled to a point of not being able to put his words together properly? This is the same man who boldly strode into 2 heated situations back in Egypt and now we find him 40 years later in the obscurity of the wilderness, stammering. I love getting to know God! The thing I saw yesterday has blessed me so much I want to share it. We read in Exodus as history records the mass exodus of God’s people from Egypt as they set out for the promised land;
Exodus 13:17-18
‘When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle’. (NIV)
Even though God knew they weren’t ready for war, the people were still ‘armed for battle’. Wow, do you see that? That’s just like us when we first get saved and onto the things of God. Here we are, freshly saved, and we think we’re ready to take on the enemy full force. We come up out of our old life, delivered by God and think, ‘Bring it on devil, I’m ready to take you on!’ These guys came up out of Egypt armed for battle. But look what God saw and said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt”. God knows that if we were to take on the enemy in our fledgling state, in a place where our relationship with God has not been established, we would be overwhelmed, overcome, and probably want to turn tail and run! So God in His love and wisdom takes us by the hand and takes us on a more solid, steady route of growth.
So often during this time we’re busy questioning God, demanding, sulking, grumbling, ‘When God when, why God why?’ but God sees what we’re ready for, we always think we’re ready before we really are. We think, ‘why’s it taking so long, I was ready ages ago, has God forgotten me, left me out here to die?’ Wow, how fearful to read the following chapters and all the trials and tests they had to go through because they wouldn’t trust God. At the end and beginning of the day, it’s ALL about trust. Later on we read that they wanted what they wanted so bad God gave it to them, BUT, He sent leanness to their souls (Ps 106:13-15) We need to be careful not to draw things to ourselves ahead of time, we might just get it but end up even more frustrated and empty.
Isn’t it interesting to see that God couldn’t stop the Philistines from attacking if He led them the short way. Sometimes we want to take a short cut and then ask God to bless it when all hell breaks loose! God can’t control everything that happens around us but He can control us if we’ll let Him lead. The short way is not always the safest or right way, the long way may look arduous but if that’s what God says to do, then it must be the safest place on earth!
Moses was chosen not because he was the most eloquent, or the most brave, but I think he was chosen because he was the most humble (Num 12:3). Here was a man who’d had a dream, who’d once stepped out prematurely in that dream, who’d failed miserably, and now was reduced to nothing. Have you been reduced to nothing, or do you still think you’re something? Because of today’s fixation with ‘good self-esteem’ and good ‘self-image’, we shy away from thinking we should think nothing of ourselves. Even in the Body we can have a pre-occupation with gifts and callings. We forget all about PURPOSE. Our common purpose is to be made into the image of Jesus Christ, our gifts and calls flow out secondarily to that purpose.
Jesus Himself said, “Don’t call me good, there’s only One good” (Lk 18:18-19 Amp). He also said He could nothing apart from the Father (Jn 5:19). Who then are we to brag about our ‘this’ and our ‘that’ when in reality we need to be reduced to nothing so that God can truly use us in power through humility and dependence upon Him.
Are you humble, or do you still grumble?
Moses was the most qualified to stand in this role because he’d been there! He understood their selfish ways, he understood their pain in the journey because he’d already walked it. Moses was the perfect man for the job. Not only had he been humbled, he’d been humbled in the wilderness 40 years! If anyone was qualified to take the children of Israel through the wilderness and to teach them to trust God – Moses was! Moses repeatedly said, “why are you complaining against me, it’s not me who’s in charge it’s God” (Ex16:8). The children of Israel didn’t understand what God was trying to achieve but Moses did, he’d lived it. That’s why the bible says the children of Israel knew God’s acts, but Moses knew His ways (Ps 103:7).
Moses was the perfect man for the job.
So I want to see how his qualifications came about, how he was equipped for this historic role. What did Moses do originally after fleeing Egypt and killing the Egyptian? Up to that point he’d had a deep conviction of the call upon his life and what God wanted him to do, he knew he was part of a great plan from God to free the Hebrew people from slavery. So what did he do when he had to leave that dream behind? What did he do when he was forced into a setting where his gift would not be used or his call fulfilled?
Ex 2:11-15: 15 (Amp)
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh's presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.
Some of you today have fled from something painful in your past, maybe another church, maybe your call has been delayed, maybe your home life has fallen apart? You’re here today and you’re sitting down by the well of the church, resting, recovering, refreshing your soul. There is a time to stop. There is a time to be still to reflect, to take stock. There’s a time to sit down by the well and consider what’s behind and what may lie before.
Moses had such a big dream in his heart, now it must have seemed that it was a million miles away. We often think that our gift or call is our life, but what if we can’t use that gift? What if it looks like we can’t walk in that ‘call’? Does that mean our life is over? If so, then the best thing Moses could have done at this point was to end his life (he probably thought about it), that’s the trouble with having our gift as our life, when we aren’t using it we think life is finished.
Let’s see what happened next in Moses’ day...
Ex 2:16-17
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.
Woohoo! Here’s Moses, beaten down, on the run, afraid. His dream of freeing the Hebrews is smashed to a million pieces and now he’s a fugitive from Pharoah. Look what he does here though, he goes and sits down disillusioned at a well but rather than ending his life, some shepherds come to harass some women needing to draw water for their father’s flock and the bible says, ‘Moses stood up and helped them’!
It’s about time some of you with shattered dreams, sitting down at the well of the church, stood up and started to help!
Moses was looking to use his deliverance ministry as the head of the Hebrew people, but here he was helping deliver some foreigners, some chicks with their sheep! You can take Moses out of Egypt but you can’t take the call out of Moses, he couldn’t help himself.
We need to stand up and be willing to help the ‘nobody’s of life because they’re the people God cares about. You wanna be somebody? Help the people you don’t know!
Some of you are frustrated beyond belief because you’re still filled with a call to help, to deliver, to serve, and yet you’re mourning the loss of what you thought was the chief position, the choicest role. You’re not using what you have right where are now for fear of missing out on the ‘big one’.
It was after this heroic and compulsive urge to stand up and help that Moses began his 40 year exile. I dare say it was a long, quiet, uneventful 40 years for Moses in that wilderness, but it was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. In that place he learnt humility. In that place he learnt the ways of God. Where was that place? When God was recruiting 40 years later for a deliverer for His people, he head hunted Moses in the wilderness, just as He’d sought David in the pasture. Where did He find Moses and what was he busy doing?
Ex 3:1a (NIV)
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Moses was tending the flock! They weren’t even his sheep they were his father-in-laws! When we’re faithful over small things God can trust us with bigger things.
Not only was he involved in looking after the sheep, he was about as far away from what he originally thought he’d be doing, this verse says he was on the ‘far side’ of the wilderness.
People, if you’re feeling like you’re on the far side, you’re closer than you think!
If you feel that you’ve come just about as far away as you can get from where you started then rejoice because you’re perfectly positioned for God to come and find you.
If you feel like God’s taking you round the long way when you feel ready for battle and can see the shortcut – trust!
You may have been sitting down at the well, disillusioned, dejected, confused and at a loss for where to go next…
But it’s time to stand up..
People are coming, lots of people are coming, and the enemy would love to chase them off the well, away from God’s blessing, but you’re perfectly positioned to stand up and help!