The Chatterbox - 2
Exodus 3:1-11
May 4, 2014
When we go to the store to buy groceries, we only buy the things we want. We don’t buy what we don’t want! And when it comes to eating, we are only going to eat what we want as well.
So, when it comes to listening to others and to ourselves, we can choose what voices we will listen to.
The voices we respond to will determine the future we experience.
And we have a choice as to the thoughts we consume. And if we are not careful, the thoughts we consume will consume us.
Listen to the words of David in Psalm 139 ~
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Isn’t there amazing beauty and power in those verses. God created us. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. But how many of us really believe that?! Because we can go through the day and we think to ourselves,
I am never ________________ enough.
Fill in the blank. We can all fill in this blank with different words. Have you ever been there? Maybe you’re there right now. We may say - - -
Smart Experienced
good patient
consistent strong
loved rich
organized awesome
pretty tall
This is part of the chatter we hear in our head and heart. The sentiment which tells us we are not ____ enough. Maybe we can just shorten it to “I am not enough.”
So, let’s look at someone from the Bible, the leader of the Israelites, a man named Moses. In Exodus 3 we read ~
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Now let’s just stop there for a moment. What’s happening? God has shown up in a burning bush. That definitely got Moses attention and God and Moses had a conversation. That’s pretty awesome, because God can have a conversation with you anywhere, anytime, any place, and even through a burning bush. God gives Moses this great calling, and God is going to send Moses to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, so that Moses can rescue the children of Israel. That’s a pretty cool assignment. It’s kind of like Mission Impossible, Taken and MacGyver all in one.
But something happens. And I think many of us could relate to it if we were in Moses sandals. You know what happens next? The chatter starts . . . yup, Moses starts to hear the chatter. After God has identified Himself to Moses, Moses allows the chatter to take over and the chatter is drowning out the voice of God. Listen to what happens next . . .
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Do you hear that from Moses? Who am I? WOW! Even Moses struggled, and we’ll see in the coming weeks, he’s in good company. You wonder what’s going on for Moses? — Who am I, Lord?
Moses is wondering, why me? Why did you pick me? Yes, it’s cool to talk to you in the middle of a boring day. But that would have been good enough. I didn’t want to get picked. Now that I think about it, I was pretty happy hanging with my family and being a sheep herder.
You see, it may be more than a little insecurity, Moses knew he was not totally clean. You see, if you don’t know the story of Moses, he was also a murderer. Moses was a Hebrew, but was raised with privileges in Pharaoh’s household. He was tired of watching his people being abused by the Egyptian’s. and in Exodus 2 we read ~
11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”
14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
Now, it’s many years later and Moses is married, has a family, works for his father in law. And now God comes knocking on his door. And God started to speak to Moses about what Moses is called to do. And now the chatter begins. You know it – I am not ________ enough! So, satan using ourselves to defeat ourselves and pull us away from doing and becoming the very people God is calling us to be.
So, just like Moses, we cry out to God, “WHO AM I!” You see, the chatter comes in the form of self-condemnation. We’re our own worst critics. And when we start on ourselves, we don’t argue back. We take it and give in to the chatter.
So, WHO AM I? WHO AM I? That you would call me. I’m messed up Lord, I can’t do this, I’m a nobody Lord. And you see, folks, one of our problems is that even when we have Christ, we still see ourselves that way.
We still don’t think we’re good enough, because we’re still stuck with the same issues we had before Christ came into our lives. We’re still struggling to let go of whatever it is — so we think, “LORD, WHO AM I? I AM NOT ________ ENOUGH!” Does that ring a bell for you? Does it sound familiar?
So, we look back at Moses, who is standing before God at the burning bush, and instead of fully hearing God’s voice, Moses is hearing the chatter, ‘Moses, remember what you did way back in Egypt. Moses, God can’t use you. You’re no good, you’re a sinner!’ Chatter and more chatter!
You ever wonder, ‘how can God know me so well, yet still love me so much?’ I wonder if Moses thought that. After all, God called him by name. Moses, Moses. . . and you know, God is calling us by name too — because He loves us. It’s what we just celebrated — communion. If God didn’t love us, He wouldn’t have sent His Son. Who would? I wouldn’t send Him if I didn’t love you! It’s a confirmation of His love for you!!
But Moses still wasn’t fully on board with God. He’s had this amazing encounter, but says in 4:1 ~ “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
Moses is doubting. So God tells Moses to throw his staff onto the ground and it will become a serpent. So Moses through the staff onto the ground and it became a serpent. And Moses ran. He was freaked out! But God said, pick up the serpent by the tail and it will turn back into a staff. So Moses did that.
Then God told Moses to take his hand and put it inside his cloak and pull it out. He did so, and his hand was leprous. It was white and diseased. Then God said, put your hand back in your cloak and Moses did and his hand was healed.
Now God told Moses, if they won’t believe either sign, then go to the Nile River and take out some of the water and pour it onto the ground and the water will turn into blood on the dry ground.
Now, after all that I think I would believe. I might be a skeptic, but after what God just put Moses through, I’d have no doubts there is something amazing going on.
Now we come to Exodus 4:10, and after all this Moses said this ~ 10 “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
The chatter is still going on for Moses. He’s just witnessed these great miracles ~
a burning bush which doesn’t turn to ashes
A voice coming from the burning bush
God calling Moses by name
the staff turned to snake
his healthy to leperous to healthy hand.
That’s pretty good stuff. But Moses will have none of that. Another excuse, God I don’t use big and fancy words, I’m just a plain old guy and when I talk to people I have to think hard before I speak, so I’m slow to speak. In fact, Lord, I was slow before you came and I’m still slow. Can’t you hear yourself in this conversation. The excuses we make for not doing what we’re really supposed to do.
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
God tells Moses, look, I will be with you, I will be your ghost (how about Holy Ghost) writer, I will make sure you are never speechless, I will make sure you always have the right words. I’m God and I will give you everything you need. Moses, let me ask you, after all that, “WHO MADE YOU?” That’s right, WHO MADE YOU?
You see, when we think we can’t. When we think we won’t. When we think this is impossible . . . aren’t we putting God’s power in a lower place? Aren’t we basically telling God, “Lord, I know you can, but you will with someone else, not with me. After all, WHO AM I? We can’t do that? We can’t short change God when it comes to His power, His grace and His love.
And we can’t compare ourselves with others, either. We can always find someone who is better off in our opinion, but it’s only our opinion. When we compare ourselves with others, we are going to put ourselves down, and then how are we going to get out of the pit we created for ourselves.
And you know how that kills us when you think you’re doing good and then you see your Christmas presents are not so great compared to all the ones you see on Instagram and Facebook. You think, man I can’t keep up with that.
We went to Florida to see my sister and have a little break. Then you see pictures of people in the Caribbean, on a cruise, in Europe, in Mexico; and you think, geesh, next year, we’ll leave a week early and take a 3 week around the world cruise. Who’s going to beat that?
We have to stop feeling that way because we’re basing our worth, we’re listening to the chatter in our head and heart and it’s all according to the world. We need to stop and turn back to God. We need to get plugged into and remember the question God asked Moses, WHO MADE YOU? You see, instead of asking WHO AM I? Why aren’t we answering the question, WHO MADE YOU?
You see we buy into the lies that we made ourselves. But WHO MADE YOU? God made you! And God made you just the way He wanted to make you. You look exactly like God wanted you to look. You’re the height God wanted you to be. Your hair or lack of hair is what God wanted you to have. Your personality is what God wanted you to have. You grew up exactly where God wanted you to grow up.
Oh, do you see where this is going for Moses? It’s not going to get any better, but Moses wasn’t finished yet. So Moses said ~
13 “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
WOW! Moses did everything he could not to accept God’s call. He doubted and doubted and then doubted some more. Finally God was angry at Moses and told Moses that his brother Aaron would speak for Moses, but Moses would carry that staff so he could perform the signs for Pharaoh.
You know what’s really interesting in this passage . . . Moses constantly doubted himself, but what we don’t ever see is Moses doubting God. Moses didn’t doubt God, he doubted himself. He didn’t think he could. You see, God can use you and I to do anything, and we don’t doubt God, but we doubt that God can use us. And we don’t believe we can do what God wants us to do. It’s not that God can’t, we believe we can’t! I am not _________ enough!
Well, as we bring this to a wrap today. We need to remember, when Moses asked God, well, what’s your name, who do I say sent me? God answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”
That’s it. Or as Jesus said it, “I AM!” God didn’t say “I was” and God didn’t say “I will be.” You see, God said “I AM” in other words, I will be with you right now, not to say I was not with you yesterday, or I will be with you tomorrow, but when you need me, “I AM!”
When the chatter goes off in your heart and head, telling you I AM NOT _____ ENOUGH! God says, hold on! Remember I AM.
When you don’t think you’re good enough, God says I am
When you don’t think you’re smart enough, God says I am
When you don’t think you’re good looking enough, God says I am
What God is telling us is this ~ It’s not about who you are, it’s about who I AM.
And if we go around thinking and saying,
I’m such a loser
I’m no good
I’m so stupid
I’m unloveable
I’m a disgrace
I’m a failure
I’m worthless . . . should I keep going . . .
You see, when we say that, we are putting God’s nature down. Because if you are in Christ, then Christ is in you. And let me tell you something, Christ is not a loser! And if Christ is not a loser, you’re not a loser! Do you get that?!
God tells us “what I AM — — You are!” And that’s great news!
