Trust God's Timing Series

Trust God’s Timing

Exodus 2:11-25

- We’re continuing our study through the book of Exodus, and we’re asking the question, “What can I learn about honoring God from this passage?”

- Last week, we looked at God our Protector.

- We saw Him protect Jochebed and her husband as they defied Pharaoh’s orders and hid baby Moses for three months, then made a basket and sent him floating down the Nile River.

- We saw Him protect Moses’ sister Miriam as she followed the basket down the river and then stepped forth to speak with Pharaoh’s daughter.

- And we saw Him protect the baby Moses, as Pharaoh’s daughter chose to adopt him instead of following her father’s orders to kill him.

- Today, we’re going to look at what we can learn from Moses about trusting God’s timing.

- There’s a funny skit on YouTube that pokes fun of Daylight Savings Time.

- This group of people at a church is gathered together, and the leader singles out one man named Jacob.

- He says, “Okay, Jacob, this is a trust fall, and all you need to do is close your eyes.”

- Then he tells the rest of the group to get in place.

- The idea is to have Jacob fall backward and trust that the group will safely catch him.

- The leader continues, “Okay, Jacob, on the count of 3, you’re going to fall and they’re going to catch you.”

- Then he counts down…”3,2,1…”

- At that point, Jacob starts to fall forward…

- The group gasps, and the leader shouts, “Wait!” but it’s too late…

- Jacob falls forward where there’s no one to catch him.

- As he falls forward, the picture fades and the words on the screen say, “Don’t forget to fall back, not spring forward!”

- That’s a little silly, and you might be thinking, “Okay, what does Daylight Savings Time have to do with this sermon?”

- Well, absolutely nothing…

- But just like Jacob trusted his group, but then fell in the wrong direction because he misunderstood the leader’s directions, so too did Moses “fall” in the wrong direction.

- He trusted in God, but he misunderstood God’s timing, and as we’ll see in the passage today, he had to flee.

- So what do we learn about trusting God’s timing from this passage this morning?

I.) Don’t Rush- Vs 11-15

- When I was a kid, I was a little competitive, but not in sports.

- I was competitive in my schoolwork.

- I wanted to have the highest score in class, or I wanted to be the first one done with the test…

- I remember one of the ways the teachers taught us how to remember our multiplication table was by giving us speed quizzes…

- We’d have a sheet of paper full of multiplication problems, and we’d have 3 or 4 minutes to complete as many of the questions as possible.

- So I’d rush through, trying to get the most done so I’d beat everyone else.

- Then, there were the times when I’d spend too much time on one question, and then rush through the rest, just so I could finish on time.

- Unfortunately, this meant that many times, I’d guess on some answers, and skip over others, all so that I could get done faster than anyone else.

- Well, when it came to school, rushing through an assignment or a test was never a good thing.

- I’d usually get a lower score than I had hoped.

- If I had taken my time, I probably would have gotten better grades.

- There are many times when we need to just take our time.

- Unfortunately, Moses learned that the hard way, but it was all part of God’s plan for him.

- In between vs 10 and 11, there’s a time-period of about 40 years, and during those 40 years, he grew up in the palace as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

- And he wasn’t just some royal spoiled brat.

- No…in Acts 7:22, Stephen tells us that, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds.”

- So during that first 40 years of Moses’ life, God was teaching him leadership skills, military skills, and of course religious skills, which his mother Jochebed taught him about the One True God…

- He probably learned some of the Egyptian pagan practices too, but it’s clear that he rejected those, and instead, chose to follow God.

- This was no small thing because, according to Jewish historian Josephus, Moses was being trained to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt!

- But that wasn’t what Moses wanted…his heart was with his people, not the Egyptians.