24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11 – NIV)
Two hunters from Oklahoma were dragging a dead deer back to their pickup truck. Another hunter from Kansas approached pulling his along, too.
"Hey, I don't want to tell you how to do something, but I can tell you that it's much easier if you drag the deer in the other direction. Then, the antlers won't dig into the ground."
After the hunter from Kansas left, the two hunters from Oklahoma decided to try it. A little while later, one hunter said to the other: "You know, that guy was right. This is a lot easier!"
"Yeah, but we're getting farther from the truck," the other added.
This was my first attempt at firing a 12 gauge shotgun. The fundraiser netted proceeds that made it possible for those who struggle with life-controlling habits to find freedom through a 9-month recovery program called Teen Challenge. Now, backing Teen Challenge was easy, but taking a ribbing about my lack of experience shooting a shotgun, now that was humiliating. Every guy in my church who attended got the biggest laugh out of my shooting technique.
I have decided that the next time a clay shoot comes around, I am going to write out a check for $100 and let my associate pastor hit me in the shoulder twenty times.
The Big Idea: In your Unexpected Journey, God uses His creation to make you like Jesus.
Allow me to recount for you the story of Henry Cowell. Or, more appropriately, let me allow Malcolm Gladwell to do so. His rendition is succinct and to the point, and for me to put it into my own words would do the story – and you – an injustice.
“Just after the First World War, Lewis Terman, a young professor of psychology at Stanford University, met a remarkable boy named Henry Cowell. Cowell had been raised in poverty and chaos. Because he did not get along with other children, he had been unschooled since the age of seven. He worked as a janitor at a one-room schoolhouse not far from the Stanford campus, and throughout the day, Cowell would sneak away from his job and play the school piano. And the music he made was beautiful.
“Terman’s specialty was intelligence testing; the standard IQ test that millions of people around the world would take during the following fifty years, the Stanford-Binet, was his creation. So he decided to test Cowell’s IQ. The boy must be intelligent, he reasoned, and sure enough, he was. He had an IQ of above 140, which was near genius level. Terman was fascinated. How many other diamonds in the rough were there?” 1 How many daily go unnoticed, overlooked and continue to live in the shadows despite their radiant talents?
Henry Cowell was an outlier, a statistical freak, an anomaly. The word "outlier" is a noun. It is one of those words you find in the “Reader's Digest” section called "Word Power." Outlier is "something that is situated away from or classified differently from the main or related body." It stands out by itself. It is an island to itself. It is a place that lies outside of everyday experiences, a place where normal rules do not apply. Moses was an outlier. Outliers are men and women who do unique and special exploits.
Joseph was an outlier. Joseph was raised in a dysfunctional home that included abuse. He was sold into slavery and lived a roller-coaster existence for the next twenty years as he went from prosperity to prison to the palace. Using his God-given talents of dream interpretation, he saved an entire nation from famine.
Wichita State Shockers are outliers. Let's start with center Carl Hall. Hall has a heart problem and was never expected to play college basketball. Few in the NCAA tournament have more heart than Carl Hall.
Redshirt freshman Ron Baker missed 21 games with a foot fracture and retuned just before the NCAA tournament to step out on the stage of the biggest venue an outlier could stand on.2 Announcers habitually referred to him as the redshirt freshman from the small western Kansas town of Scott City.
Having given up a year of eligibility to transfer from Oregon to Wichita State, Malcolm Armstead worked in that off year at a car dealership to pay his way through school.
After being bumped from the first round of the 2012 NCAA tournament in Portland, Ore., the Shocker men returned the next year with a chip on their shoulder to play themselves into the Final Four as outliers. Nobody expected them to separate themselves from the field and do unusual exploits.
Moses was an outlier. Like a lotus flower that grows in the mud, Moses reminds us that the thicker the mire, the more beautiful the flower. Moses sprouted up from the slave-persecuting world of ancient Egypt to become an outlier. Like a six grader who stands 6'6" or a VW with a Corvette engine, outliers stand out in prison, stand out in the palace, stand out in the family of 12. They stand out at the piano and stand out in the mud. The single greatest accomplishment for Moses was not giftedness and talent, although he possessed both, but survival.
Reared in an era of tragic genocide, Moses’ greatest talent as a child was not measured by IQ, but by the years he stayed alive. As an outlier, Moses’ life was defined by how God used His creation – a river, a desert and a mountain – to define Moses, to refine Moses and to align Moses.
Since the days of Genesis 1 and creation, God has been using His creation to bring Him glory, to bring Him souls and to bring Him outliers - Joseph, Moses and YOU!
How does God use His creation?
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19-NIV)
Every star has a fingerprint. Each leaf is a reminder. The glaciers are footprints. The seasons are chapters. The clouds are banners. The mountains have a megaphone. Creation is a song with many verses, but the chorus is always “GOD IS.”
"Creation is God's first missionary" as Max Lucado says.3
Moses is not the first author that God uses. The first author for God is His creation. Nature is the teacher; every human’s soul is the student. The lessons come from a flower in a bunch, a shell by the sea, the feather of a foul. They all speak of the Creator.
There will always be those who never possess a Bible, those who never see a Christian movie. Some never hear a sermon, go to church, or attend a potluck. They don’t sing “It it is Well with My Soul.” There are those who die before their tribe hears the story in their own language. Some have lived before Christ and others far from the Promised Land. They are the illiterate, the simple who are incapable of understanding the gospel. What does the future hold for the person who never hears of God?
David's answer is clear: The human heart can know God through the handiwork of His creation. If that is all one ever sees, then that is all one ever needs. One needs only respond to what is given. If all he has is a mountain, a river, a stream, an ocean, a blanketed sky of stars, an elephant – that is enough.
We meet Moses in the book of Exodus. His name means, "to draw out." His story is told in the second book of the Old Testament called the Exodus. Exodus is the combination of two Greek words: “ek” and “hodos,” which mean “out” and “road” This is the way out or the road out.
After 400 years of slavery God is now ready to bring his people out of bondage. He plans to do this through the life of Moses. Moses grew up in the brick pits and university life of Egypt. Few were better equipped. No one in Egypt identified with both Egyptian culture and Hebrew culture like Moses.
Though Moses is long gone, his story still lives on in the pages of God's word. He is ready to speak, if you will listen through the power of the Holy Spirit. As you study with me today, are you ready to learn and apply God's lessons?
1. God is with you in the river.
3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. (Exodus 2-NIV)
Few people want to give their kid up for adoption. Many are forced to because they are incapable of caring for the child. What about when you are forced to, in order to save the life of your child? History is filled with millions of kids who have wandered into refugee camps because their parents died at the hands of war. Kids have been orphaned when parents have been tragically killed in a car wreck or plane crash. Some of the saddest stories have to be the parents who wreck their lives with addictions, losing their kids to the state as they make every attempt to clean up their act.
Moses’ reason for adoption was odd. A madman pharaoh had become threatened and paranoid that a child king would be born, so he declared an edict that all boys under the age of two were to be thrown into the Nile. How ironic that Moses was pulled from the very river that shed the blood of his generation. He was rescued and reared to become the deliverer of the nation of Israel.
What the devil intends for evil, God will use for good. In your early growth in Christ, so much of what God does makes no sense. Take it by faith. God's plans work every time if we stay out of the way. I have been at this long enough; my way is a disaster every time.
Dark times often call for desperate decisions and desperate measures. Moses’ mom glanced to the east and to the west and cleared baby Moses for take-off as she pushed him into the Nile – a river filled with crocodiles. Jochebed made a shrewd calculation about the place and timing of Moses’ rescue. Mom released Moses to float along the banks thick with bamboo. She prayed and called out to God, believing by faith that Moses would drift into a safe harbor. In that safe harbor, a princess made her way to a bathing eddy at the exact God-determined moment to hear the child crying.
Would she accept the crying child as a gift from the Nile or decide to have the child drowned like Moses’ countless contemporaries? God was at work in the river. God was at work on a human heart. The natural and supernatural were once again pawns in the hands of the Creator of the universe. Joseph had a coat and some dreams; Moses’ mom had a river and princess.
If the princess responded favorably, Moses’ own sister would be standing nearby to suggest to the princess that a Hebrew mother might make a good nanny, and Miriam would immediately get Jochebed. Is it possible that God would use his creation – the Nile – to pull off such an elaborate plan? Now the grace of God was at work as Moses floated out of the hands of mom and into the hands of the princess.
Moses’ mother not only received her child back, but for the next 2-3 years she also made bank for providing nanny services. Life is unfair at times. Life is painful. When those times come, you have a decision to make. Will you trust and lean on God, or will you slip into the abyss of anger and depression? God knows your hurt. God heals your hurt. Failure to heal leads to anger, resentment and bitterness. Put your faith in God's purpose and plans. Release it now.
Moses’ journey toward God's plan was now beginning.
2. God is with you in the desert.
23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, “Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?”
27 But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. (Acts 7 – NIV)
For Moses, the Nile River was a place of rescue. The desert was a place of self-discovery. And the mountain was a second chance. Each feature of God's creation had an intended purpose to define, refine and align.
Let's join Moses in the desert. After spending the first 40 years of his life thinking he was a somebody, now God wanted to spend the next 40 years showing him He was a nobody. These next 40 years of Moses’ life would be spent in the Midian desert.
Pampered by the soft life of aristocracy, prepared by the educational halls of medicine and military, Moses would be bronzed by the sun, scarred by the battlefield and worshipped by the people.
For Moses, it all changed in a day. God can get you any place in a day. You can undo all that God has done in a day. All of life is defined by 3 or 4 big days. Think about it! Here is one for Moses:
27 But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. (Acts 7 – NIV)
Moses bet the whole farm on one attempted act of deliverance. He came up snake eyes. Moses folded. That day, Moses gave up his whole life of wealth, prestige and prominence – all for the sake of the Hebrews. Since the Hebrews did not see God's plan, they refused his leadership and Moses was exiled to a scorpion-filled desert wasteland. God expected more from Moses than just preparation; He wanted to teach and train Moses about submission and how to use God's power.
Although those 40 years may have seemed to drag by, God squeezed out every ounce of benefit from Moses’ life in Midian. Let's read between the lines of what happened to Moses in those years in Midian. Two verses of scripture give us a glimpse:
2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8 – NIV)
Refined in character and submissive in heart, Moses was ready for his finest hour. Nothing like isolation, harsh settings and solitude to refine and define Moses’ character. Humility and servitude are only fostered in the furnace of the desert.
10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye…. (Deut. 32 – NIV)
God found Moses in a barren and howling place – not only geographically but spiritually, too. It was here that God shielded and cared for Moses. In a barren and harsh desert, education offers no relief from heat and harshness. In a barren and harsh desert, your military résumé offers no relief from the heat and harshness. In a barren and harsh desert, the adoration of the masses offers no relief from the heat and harshness.
With waves of heat and gritty sand pounding his face and howling wind bearing down on him daily, God was stripping Moses of everything that he trusted and relied upon except God.
In Exodus 3:1 we learn that Moses leads his father-in-law’s flock to the "west side of the wilderness." The west side of the wilderness literally means, "rear part." How the mighty have fallen. God was making Moses into an "outlier." Moses went from the best education, first-rate military training and worship of the people to the "west side of the wilderness."
At Sinai, all Moses could see was sand and rocks – no plant life, no rivers, no people. Moses was alone, except for some sheep to care for. Moses’ educational experience on the "west side of the wilderness" earned him a degree in self-discovery. Moses’ degree was made up of three core classes:
Time Management - From age 40 to 80, that is a lot of years to spend staring at sand and rocks.
The Sounds of Silence - How would Moses handle the pressure of leadership if he could quiet his soul and sequester himself with the Almighty for instruction?
Leadership Development through Obscurity -Moses was used to riding in chariots, listening to people shouting his name. He was worshiped as far as the eye could see. As a prince, he was on the fast-track to becoming a pharaoh and an Egyptian god. He was alone now. No one's paper to cheat from. His was the only locker in the hall. Have you ever tried to start a food fight when you are the only one in the cafeteria? How about claiming harassment at work when you are the only one in the company. Moses was alone. His only companions were the bleating sheep and the howling winds.
3. God is with you on the mountain.
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 wilderness 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.” (Exodus 3 – NIV)
Moses’ life all changed the day he encountered a bush that never burned. Moses had pulled his sheep out of these desert prisons a hundred times. Moses was about to encounter the one true and living God. Standing before a gold statue of an Egyptian god, that would be impressive. Worshiping in the midst of incense and chanting of ascetic speech, now that will get you in the mood to see God. But to stand in front of a desert bush that burns with fire and is speaking, who is ever going to believe that? Then the game changed when God spoke, and what he offered Moses was a second chance.
10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3 – NASB)
Moses would soon realize that he was standing before the God whom he had failed in Egypt, hearing the very voice of God. What an opportunity to redeem himself and get a fresh start. Even when we feel like a failure, God's hand of grace is extended, giving us another chance to do His will. Be assured that:
1. God is with you in the river - when you have no control.
2. God is with you in the desert – when you’re alone with no comfort.
3. God is with you on the mountain - when you think He should favor someone else and have confidence in another.
Do you remember those outliers from Wichita State? The weekend of the NCAA tournament, I took my boys to Chicago for a Bulls and White Sox game. We listened to the Shockers’ game on the radio as we traveled home on route 66, returning to Wichita. Some of the referee calls – I could even tell through the radio – they were bad!
It is a 12-hour drive from Chicago to Wichita by way of St. Louis. I had planned to return home at about 3 a.m., sleep fast and preach the next morning. As I was driving from Joplin, Mo., to Fredonia, Kan., on Highway 54/400, I was listening to the mighty 670 AM out of Chicago.
At about 2 a.m., I was shocked at what I heard. The radio host was bad-mouthing the Wichita Shockers. He alluded to the fact the Shockers did not deserve to be in the NCAA Final Four. Something about not being from a power conference, not having any potential pro prospects, and I guess he thought that kids with heart problems, kids from small western Kansas towns and those who give up a year of eligibility to work at a car dealership to pay for college have no right to stand on the NCAA basketball floor against Goliath Louisville.
I wish the story had a Cinderella ending. The Shockers lost. I made it home and preached great the next day. The church shouted me down (good or bad?) when I told them that I called the radio host at 2:30 a.m. and defended a bunch of outliers from Wichita who almost made basketball history.
End Notes
1 Gladwell, Malcolm. “Outliers: The Story of Success.” New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Pg. 73.
2 Borzello, Jeff. “Hometown hero Ron Baker continues Hollywood story in L.A.” cbssports.com. March 27, 2013.
3 Lucado, Max. “The Lucado Inspirational Reader.” Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011. Pg. 68.
