Reverse
Part 2 – Setting Up a Reverse
I. Introduction
As I mentioned to you last week I wrestled for several years. Here is the pictorial proof for you entertainment. Tim offered to let me borrow Jake’s singlet to wear while I preach. That didn’t take much thought to turn down!
Wrestling is probably the toughest sport I have ever tried. I can easily agree with one world famous wrestler who once said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”
So once again here is your crash course in wrestling. If you manage to take your opponent down to the ground from a standing position you have scored a “Takedown” and you are awarded 2 points. If you can then turn that opponent onto his back you are awarded back points of either 3 or 5 points depending on how long you can hold them in that position. If you can put both shoulder blades on the mat you have scored a pin and the match is over. There are 2 other main scoring options that take place once a person has been taken down. If a wrestler, after being taken down, gets away from his opponent and regains his feet then he has “Escaped” and gets 1 point. If a wrestler is taken down, but then turns the tables on the opponent and switches positions into a controlling position he has scored a “Reverse” and receives 2 points.
So a reverse is worth more points. You will remember that I encouraged you last week to quit quitting. You will never reverse by quitting. Don’t just lay there, get up and fight back. Don’t just settle for an escape. There are moments when you just get out with your life and thank God that you did. However, if you would just stay in the match you can begin to trust God’s promise found in Is. 54. No weapon formed against you shall prosper so there is going to have to be a turnaround! Anyone testify about God’s reversing power this week?
So today I want us to look at one of the most astounding reverses recorded in Scripture and try to learn some things so that we will know how to position ourselves for the reverse that we need. I give you permission that at any moment I hit something in which you need a reverse or at any moment that you get excited about a reverse that God has already worked in your life then stand up and testify. If someone thinks you are crazy just spin any way!
II. Text
Exodus 1:22
So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live."
Exodus 2:1-22
1-3 A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.
4-6 The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, "This must be one of the Hebrew babies."
7 Then his sister was before her: "Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?" 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said, "Yes. Go." The girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me. I’ll pay you." The woman took the child and nursed him. 10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, "I pulled him out of the water."
Think about this powerful reverse. The Pharaoh has given an order. Every little boy belonging to his slaves (the Israelites) must die. As a side note I just find it interesting that every time the enemy tries to take you down he will typically attack your ability to reproduce! It is all about the seed of destiny that is in you. The seed of the Word that it is you. He knows if he can distract you and debilitate you that you will have no ability to reproduce what is important.
The order is given, but the mom refuses to give up. She refuses to quit. She puts the baby in the basket. And a reverse takes place. The baby that was sentenced to death is now taken in and raised by the family that wanted to kill him.
III. Setting up a Reverse
1. You can’t let the can’ts keep you from the cans.
A reverse is set into motion when you refuse to allow the can’ts to keep you from taking care of the cans. Think about it . . . this Israelite mom couldn’t change the pharaoh’s edict. This mom couldn’t change her status in the class system. This mom couldn’t change the little boy into a little girl. This mom couldn’t change the environment her son was being raised in. However, she refused to allow what she couldn’t do to keep her from doing what she could. She could refuse to give up. She could hide the little boy as long as possible. She could see him a few minutes every day. She could tell him about his heritage. She could tell him about her God.
Some of you have allowed what you can’t do to stop you from what you can do and therefore you never see a reverse.
I can’t change my spouse! But you can change you. You can change how you react. You can change how you treat them.
I can’t change my job situation! You can work harder at your current job. You can arrive early and leave last. You can excel!
I can’t make ends meet! You can steward what you have now. You can tithe now. You can cut some unnecessary things out of your life now!
I can’t make an A. You can study harder. You can refuse to stay at C and get to a B.
Do what you can do now! It may not seem like it much now, but it is positioning you to gain the reverse in the future.
I will never forget one wrestling match I was in against the guy named “Prince.” Meanest guy I have ever seen. He was growling when he walked on the mat. He had muscles in places I didn’t know you could have muscles. He was stronger than I was. He was faster than I was. He was definitely more aggressive than I was. I couldn’t do what he could do. The only thing I could do was get to my hands and knees. So after he worked hard to take me down I would just get to my hands and my knees. Eventually he got frustrated because he couldn’t keep me down and he began scratch me. I mean he scratched me so hard I started bleeding. Referee warned him. All I could do was yell! He did it again and I won by DQ. I couldn’t overpower him, but I could out think him!
What can you do right now in your situation that would possibly position you to turn the tables on the enemy?
One aspect of this may be that you have blamed your environment for not being able to work a reverse. Some of you are wishing for a different environment, different lot in life and a different hand. You are convinced that no reverse is possible because of what you are surrounded by! Go back to the story.
Moses is raised in his enemy’s home. The same pharaoh that issued his death warrant is now paying his natural family to take care of him. Pharaoh foots the bill for his diapers, his education, his clothes, and for his military training! It is a reverse! He trains the very little boy that will overthrow the reign over the Israelites! Pharaoh finances the defeat of his own dynasty. Pharaoh bankrolls his nemesis.
Oh, verses are going off in me like the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous. If the Lord is for us who can be against us? (Turnaround) God sets up a reverse in which the ones who were dominated will dominate! God can cause such an incredible reverse that your enemy will pay you to nurse your dream that he was trying to kill!
I want you to realize the environment doesn’t have to determine your destiny. Your environment doesn’t have to dictate what you can do!
Get off your can’ts and get your cans busy!
2. A reverse is about timing!
The reverse was set in motion when the little boy was 3 months old and was floating in the river. However, they didn’t see the actual reverse until that little boy had grown up, gotten married and was approximately 80 years old. He had tried to deliver at 40, but a reverse is about timing.
Some of you are angry at God because you have been planning on and praying for a reverse for 6 months, but nothing has changed. Some of you have been holding on for a decade. However, you have to understand that God doesn’t want you to visit dominion He wants you to live in dominion.
If God had given you the reverse last month you wouldn’t have been strong enough and prepared enough to maintain the reverse. The enemy also knows that the best time to reverse is right after a reverse. God is trying to get you into shape and trying to get your equipped to the point that once the reverse takes place it will be a once and for all deal rather than a quick reverse followed by a reverse by the enemy! He knows if that happened you would give up and quit. God knows that if He gave you the promotion right now you would misuse the power. God knows that if He gave you the right relationship now you would take it for granted. God knows that if He turned around your finances right now you would squander it! Trust the timing of the reverse. Keep preparing. Keep learning. Keep believing. Those that wait on the Lord! Trust Him in the wait! A wait isn’t a “no”! It is a keep working and keep serving, keep training, keep sowing, keep learning and holding on. Timing is everything!
How do you know the timing is wrong for your reverse?
a. You do things that go against God’s law.
Moses thought his timing was right when he stepped between Egyptian and Israelite. Broke a law – commits murder in order to gain reverse. If what you are about to do in your own strength goes against God’s law then you can rest assured your timing is wrong. I will go in deeper debt to get what I want. Timing is wrong. I will walk away from my commitment. The timing is wrong. The timing can never be right if you have to violate God’s law to try to get a reverse. In fact, we lengthen time if we violate laws of God. I wonder if Moses could have delivered his people from bondage when he was 45 or 55 if he had simply waited for the proper timing? If you take things into your own hands then you take them out of God’s hands.
b. You cover up what you are doing!
Moses buried the body immediately. He tried to cover up his actions. A reverse won’t happen when you cover up! If you are living in fear or shame over what you are doing that is a pretty good indication that you missed your timing. If you have to build an act or a charade to cover up the choice or the decision you are about to make then you can stop right now because that isn’t God! Moses looked around to see who was watching! If you can’t do what you are about to do in the light of day then you can safely assume it is the wrong timing! God works reverses in the light not in the dark! In fact, we are promised that anything we do in darkness will be uncovered and exposed! God doesn’t often reverse what you have covered up!
A God ordained and orchestrated reverse always comes in the fullness of time! God’s greatest reverse was birthed in timing! Wait on Him! So this morning I am telling you to do what you can do now to position yourself for a reverse later. Do what you can do, but do it right and let God operate according to His time frame! A reverse is certain according to Isaiah 57:17 so we must wait on Him to fulfill His Word.
