Answering God’s Call
The Story of Moses
Exodus 3:1-4
The story of Moses begins, really where the story of Joseph leaves off.
Joseph, the son of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, brought his entire family – Dad, 11 brothers and all of their wives and kids, 70+ people in all – to Egypt to escape a terrible famine in Canaan. A funny thing happened – they settled in Egypt and made their homes there.
Exodus 1:6-7 No Joseph and all his borthers and all that generation died, 7but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
They became more than a family. They turned into their own people group. There is approximately 300 years between the death of Joseph and the escape from Egypt. In that intervening time their numbers grew from 70 total to 600,000 men plus women and children!
Egyptian rulers came on the scene who knew nothing about Joseph and the good things he had brought to the nation. All they saw was a ready made labor force, so they enslaved them.
Exodus 1:11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
The Egyptians grew afraid of the Israelites to the point that in Exodus 1:22 Pharaoh declares, “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile (the river), but let every girl live.”
Into that backdrop comes a baby boy named Moses. Most of you know the story:
Born into a family descended from Joseph’s brother Levi
Mother hid him for 3 months
She put him in a basket in the river
He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter
Raised in palace, cared for by his mother
Moses grew up very aware of his heritage. He may have been raised as a Prince of Egypt, but he knew injustice against his people when he saw it. As a young man he killed an Egyptian who was brutalizing another Hebrew.
Justified or not, word got out and this lapse in judgment put Moses in hot water with Pharaoh. When a king is out to get you, it’s time to leave the kingdom, so Moses ran until he found himself in a place called Midian, located in part of what is now Western Saudi Arabia.
Moses would go on to spend 40 years there – fully 1/3 of his life – as a shepherd for his father-in-law. It was at the end of this period of time that he received the call that would change his life.
Exodus 3:1-4
During the interview that would follow his words, “Here I am,” Moses would display reverence, fear and curiousity. But when all was said and done, the most important quality he would demonstrate would be obedience.
Like Moses, there’s no doubt that when we hear the call of God, we’ll experience a whole range of emotions. But the measure of encounter is bound up in our willingness to respond in obedience to that call.
When God Calls We Must…
Go Where God Sends Us Exodus 3:7-12
Over the years we’ve been in ministry some very gracious people have said things to us like, “We sure hope you’re with us a long time.” Those kinds of things are said out of love and consideration for relationships that have developed during the life of a ministry.
Truth be told, my wife and I have always committed ourselves to going where God tells us. What that means in practice is that God told us to come to Rock Falls in 2004 and we will stay here until God tells us to go somewhere else. Not a moment sooner and not a moment longer. That’s how it has to be.
As soon as Moses responded to God with the words, “Here I am,” he heard, “OK then, I’m sending you to Pharaoh in Egypt.” That probably seemed an extremely unlikely turn of events. Would God really send him back to the scene of the most disastrous event of his life?
What many of us who follow God’s call will find is that, over time, we’ll find ourselves going in many directions we do not expect. My dad is working with Royal Rangers back home. Teenage kid David fought giant Goliath. Zacchaeus the business man gives money back to disgruntled customers.
However, unless we’re willing to be obedient and follow those unlikely directions from above, we’ll never find the true peace in life we crave, the place of God’s true blessing.
When God calls, we must go where He sends us.
Say What God Tells Us Exodus 3:13-15
Unless you’re a natural born politician, one of your first questions will upon sensing a call of God upon your life will probably be, “But God, what do I say?” When people question your decision-making or your faith, how are you supposed to respond in a manner that doesn’t make you feel or look foolish?
Truthfully, one of the lasting fears of most beginning preachers, teachers and leaders is, “What if they don’t believe or accept me?” In other words, what’s going to happen if I fail to make a clear or persuasive argument to those listening?
But God has an answer in every situation.
Exodus 4:10-12 Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past or since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Jesus said same in
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 “…our competence comes from God.”
Remember Matthew 13:15. Our greatest fear in following God’s call may in fact be the most unfounded. If we listen to, and understand God’s voice, he will tell us what to say. He’ll fill our mouths with words relevant to the people and appropriate to the situation where we find ourselves.
When God Calls we must Say What He tells us
Do What God Asks of Us Exodus 3:16-20
An often fatal mistake people make is to hear the voice of God, understand where we’re called to go and what we’re called to say, then run out without getting instructions for what to do when we get there.
At the turn of the 20th century some early Pentecostal believers faced great difficulty because they heard a call to a mission field and immediately went, without making any preparation of waiting for guidance about how to proceed. True stories are told of entire families getting off boats in China unable to communicate even one word with the local population.
If you were to call our friend Pete Russell to your home or place of business and say, “Pete, I want you to paint this living room,” he would not burst out the front door and drive immediately to the paint store to buy supplies. No! He would first ask you questions about color and finish and get details from you so he could complete the job to your satisfaction.
Know this: God will not call you to go and give you a message and then leave you in the dark about how to get it out! Wait on Him to finish. Moses received great detail from God concerning what he was to do and to whom he was to speak when he returned to Egypt.
We can expect similar direction. When we receive and listen to that guidance from God we won’t overreach and try to do things we’re not prepared for and we won’t underestimate what God wants to do and miss out on greater things.
When God Calls, We Must Do What He Asks of Us
There’s probably someone this morning that’s been hearing the call of God in your own life. Just like a bush that’s burning, there are unmistakable signs that He’s got your number.
Maybe you are…
• Hearing God calling you to give Him control of your life
• Experiencing a call to involvement in ministry – Surprise!
• Remembering a time when God called and you didn’t respond
Wherever you are in life, it’s not too late – if God is calling you, obey His voice. Come to him right now and find the fulfillment of being exactly where God made you to be.
