Moses – Fearful to Faithful
How do we overcome the Fears we face in Following God?
Focus on God’s Presence with us
Focus on God’s Power through us
Focus on God’s Provision for us
Slide
When I say the name Moses, what do you think of?
Man of Faith?
Great divider of the Red Sea
Great leader of Israel out of Egypt.
Great lawgiver of the Old Testament.
Extraordinary man of God?
Moses was all of those things, indeed.
In the Bible we see Moses described as
A faithful servant (Hebrews 3:5)
The servant of the Lord (Deuteronomy 34:5)
Faithful in all God’s house (Numbers 12:7)
Someone who spoke with God “as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11)
He was definitely an extraordinary man of faith.
He is not someone we think of in any way as ordinary.
But even Moses had some ordinary times in his life
And even for Moses, the great man of God, it was not he who was extraordinary, but it was the God he served, who did extraordinary things through Moses.
We are going to see this morning the less than extraordinary way that Moses initially responded to God because of some of his fears, so we might have hope even in the midst of our own weaknesses and fears, and be able to overcome those fears and be used by God in an extraordinary way.
Turn with me this morning to
Exodus 3:1 (p.41)
Slide
A bit of background on Moses.
Moses was born when the Israelites were becoming more numerous than the Egyptians so the midwives were supposed to kill Israelite boys that were born.
Moses mother instead put him in a basket and into the river. Pharaohs daughter found him and later ended up raising him in Pharaoh’s house as a prince.
When Moses was about 40 years old (Acts 7:23), he saw the Hebrews being abused and he ended up killing an Egyptian. It became known what he did and he had to flee Egypt. He went to Midian and got married and he was there for 40 years (Acts 7:30). Now he is about 80 years old out tending the sheep.
This is where we pick up the story in
Exodus 3:1-4:17
1 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. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ’The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ’What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ’I AM has sent me to you.’"
15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ’The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ’The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ’The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."
Ex 4:1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The LORD did not appear to you’?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The 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? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
Imagine the situation
Ok, you have got to get this picture in your head.
You are having a conversation with the God of the Universe, the creator of everything and He is telling you how he is going to rescue your countrymen through you and He is showing you some unbelievable miracles…
And you are questioning Him concerning if He has the right person, or if it doesn’t go as God is expecting?
What are you thinking Moses!
But that is just the thing. When we are afraid sometimes, we stop thinking. Moses is focused on his fears and his fears are hindering him from doing what God is leading him to do.
Fear can keep us from doing things God wants us to do.
Have you ever been afraid of doing what you think God wants you to do?
So often we think if God would just tell us what He wants me to do, that would make life so much easier.
The problem is that
We don’t want God to tell us to do what He wants us to do.
We want Him to tell us to do what we want to do.
And if it is something different from that, we start to do just what Moses does.
We try to question God about it.
God you don’t really mean me, do you?
Lord have you completely thought through what you are doing?
Let’s go over your plan and I will help you think it through.
Marriage and Divorce
Maybe you married and your marriage is just not bringing you the joy you desire. You know God “hates divorce” and designed marriage to be for life, you are afraid that obeying that will not allow you to enjoy life.
So you start questioning God…
I know God wants me happy, so He must want me to get a divorce.
Things aren’t working out the way you intended God so you don’t really hate divorce in this case, do you
Serving and free time
Maybe you feel God has been urging you to start serving him in the church, but you are afraid that it will eat up your free time and you won’t enjoy life
Full time service vs. provision
Maybe you are feeling that God has been calling you to full time service in the church or in the mission field and you are afraid that you will not be able to afford to live if you quit your job and follow that call.
Evangelism vs. Being liked
Maybe you feeling that God has been urging you to share your faith with some neighbors or coworkers but are afraid that they might not respond favorably and they will think poorly of you.
Those things can all make us afraid
Moses faced some of these fears as well.
If fear keeps you from following God,
Then
How do you overcome fear so you can Follow God?
Slide
How do we move from Fear to Faith?
Well, God gives Moses some practical helps that ultimately helped him face these fears and obey the Lord and be used in such a way that He would be known as a great and extraordinary man of faith.
The first thing we see here is that we are told to
Focus on God’s Presence with Us
Slide
Exodus 3:11-12
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Moses is saying, Lord you must have gotten the wrong guy.
I am a nobody.
In fact, did you forget God that I made an attempt 40 years ago to help my people, and they rejected me?
Moses is focused on himself.
But God says in verse 12 - "I will be with you.”
Maybe your thinking, “Gee, that is a lot of help (sarcastically)”
Actually, having God present with us is a lot of help.
Listen to what David writes as he faced possible death.
Psalm 23:1-4
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
When you have experienced the presence of the Lord, you know what a great comfort it is when we are facing fears, even the fear of death.
Not only does His presence give us comfort, it gives us courage.
After Moses had this experience with God, he finally understood that God’s presence in our life is an awesome thing, especially when we are facing a fear of following God.
Listen to what Moses said near the end of his life.
Deuteronomy 31:6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
His presence provides courage as well.
We need to understand that having faith and experiencing God’s presence doesn’t mean that we are never fearful. It means that we can overcome our fear by our faith so our fear doesn’t incapacitate us.
When the Lord is leading us we can find comfort and take courage because He promises to be present with us.
Present Gospel
The presence of God the Father in our life is only available through receiving the Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:23 - No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
John 14:6-7 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
If you have never received Jesus as Savior,
Recognizing that you need a Savior because you have sinned against God
Recognizing that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God, God in the flesh
Believing that He died for your sins and
Believing that he rose 3 days later, having the power of eternal life to give.
Then won’t you do that right now.
Before I continue, we are going to stop and pray. If you have never experienced the presence of God, then won’t you receive Christ now by acknowledging these things and receiving Jesus as your Savior?
Pray with me now if you want His presence.
Not only will his presence help us overcome our fears, but we are told also to
Focus on God’s Power through us
Slide
Exodus 3:13-4:9
In this next section Moses shows his fear of what men might think of him and that they might not believe him.
God’s response to Moses is that not only will I be with you, but
know that I am God almighty and I will work powerfully through you.
God tells Moses that if Moses does what God is telling him to do, they will believe him. Exodus 3:18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you.
In fact, I will even have my power work miracles through you.
And while I believe that God’s purpose in working sign miracles to authenticate a message or messenger, like He was doing here, no longer exists, God still works powerfully through people to accomplish seemingly impossible things.
Throughout history we have seen God’s power work through many people.
Consider
William Wilberforce
He was a politician in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.
Following his coming to Christ as a young politician, he devoted himself to the seemingly impossible task of ending slavery in the British Empire.
Now slavery was so entrenched in the British Empire and had such special interest support that the opposition to abolition was able to politically maneuver and defeat the abolitionist movement for 15 years.
But Wilberforce never lost faith and faced the fears of not being liked by men and trusted in God’s power to persuade people to work through him.
It was ultimately because of Wilberforce’s faith and obedience
the slave trade was abolished in 1807 and ultimately
slavery was abolished in 1833.
Another person who God worked powerfully through is
George Muller
He was a pastor that was burdened for orphans and in his lifetime through facilities that he had built, was able to care for and educate over 10,000 orphans.
Accessed on 9/5/2008 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M%C3%BCller
This is something that was only possible for one man to do because of his faith and a recognition and belief that God’s power would work through Him to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.
Moses, needed to focus on God’s power to work through him and not his own inabilities in accomplishing these things.
With whatever you are facing that may be fearful, you need to focus on God’s power to work through you for what He is calling you to do.
Don’t let fear of failure or men or even death if it keep you from being used to do extraordinary things for God.
Focus on His power to work through you and trust that He can do it and that ultimately it is His power working through you that will raise you to eternal life.
This is why you don’t even have to fear death.
Focus on His power to work through you.
Finally, if we are going to overcome fear to walk in obedience to the Lord, we need to
Focus on God’s Provision for us
Slide
Exodus 4:10-17
In the last section of this Moses is complaining about not being able to speak and just downright not wanting to do this.
He is saying I don’t have what is necessary to do this. Can’t speak, can’t lead, I am afraid.
God responds not only will I be present with you, not only will I work my power through you, but I will also provide for you
I will help you speak.
I will give you the words to say.
And even when Moses still is weak in faith, God, in his anger, still has compassion in providing Moses brother, Aaron, to go with him and be his helper.
There may be times when you just don’t think you can get through a circumstance, don’t think you can follow God in what He wants you to do.
He will provide just what you need to accomplish what He is calling you to do just like He did for Moses.
Moses went out and followed the Lord and did the things God told him to do and God used this weak and fearful individual and built him into a great man of faith that was used to do the extraordinary.
Where are you today?
What Fears have got you to the point of thinking you aren’t able to follow the Lord in Faith?
Marriage
If it is your marriage, then focus now on God’s presence and power and how he can provide for you.
Maybe you are here today so that God could simply let you know that he is going to be working in your marriage through the upcoming Fireproof series that we will be starting.
Maybe He is just telling you that He has heard your cry and will be working in your life and your situation. But keep your focus on Him
On His presence and
On His power to work in you and through you and
On His provision for you during this time.
Service
Maybe you feel led to serve Him more, but are afraid of the sacrifice.
Yes there is sacrifice, but there is far more blessing.
The blessing of intimacy with the Lord, the blessing of His power working through us, the blessing of seeing Him provide for us.
God is good even when we sacrifice.
Sharing your Faith
Maybe God has been leading you to share your faith with others from work or the neighborhood, but you are afraid of what they may think of you.
Keep your focus on God and how He will provide for you and work in those people’s hearts to change their eternities.
Even back in Jesus’ time there are people who believed in Jesus but would not say anything because they were more afraid of what people would think of them rather than what God thought of them.
John 12:42-43
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
Don’t love the praise of men more than the praise of God.
That will do nothing but make us succumb to our fears and live lives that are less than what God could make them.
Live focused on God and live extraordinary.
God is good and desires to use us to not just do the ordinary but to accomplish extraordinary things through us for His own glory.
Let’s pray for God to help us keep our focus on His presence with us, His power to work through us, and his provision for us.
Let’s pray.
