Trusting God’s Call
Exodus 3:1-12
- We’re continuing our study through the book of Exodus, and as we study, we’re asking the question, “What can I learn about honoring God from this passage?”
- Last week, we looked at trusting God’s timing.
- Moses was ready to deliver his people from the Egyptians, but it wasn’t yet God’s timing.
- Moses wouldn’t be back to deliver his people until 40 years later.
- But God used his time away from Egypt to teach him more about being a leader.
- When it comes to God’s timing, it’s important for us not to rush, not to give up, and not to lose faith.
- Today, we’re going to talk about trusting God’s call.
- Sometimes, it’s fun to look at how different countries do things differently.
- For example, when Americans answer the telephone, most of them simply say, "Hello."
- The response is a bit different in other countries.
- Germans answer a ringing phone with their last name.
- In Denmark, the Danes will answer with both their first and last names.
- Russians say, "I’m listening."
- The curious French say, "Hello, who’s on the line?"
- Italians greet callers with "Ready" upon which the caller demands, "Who's speaking?"
- The Spanish give the command, "Speak!"
- The Chinese proclaim, "Hey, hey, who are you?"
- Just as there are different ways of answering phone calls, there are also different ways to answering a call from God.
- Every follower of Christ has a calling in life.
- And it’s important for us to trust God’s calling because He always knows what’s best.
- So let’s look at three things this morning that are part of trusting God’s call.
I.) Listen for His call- Vs 1-6
- When I was a kid, there were 2 things I loved to play with my brother…cops and robbers, and GI Joe.
- I thought cops and soldiers were so awesome, and when I grew up, I was going to do both.
- Well, I did one of them, joining the military, but the other one, law enforcement, was part of my plan for when I finished my enlistment in the Army.
- Of course, in the back of my mind, there was a bit of hesitation, because like I said last week, I also felt a calling to be a pastor.
- Anyways, I went on several ride-alongs with local and state police…
- I even went with the Wardens.
- But the entire time, even though I thought it would be such a cool job, I couldn’t get rid of that hesitation.
- When Sherri and I got married, I started working as a bank teller, but still, there was a hesitation, knowing it wasn’t what I was supposed to do.
- Then one day, I received a message on Facebook from the Chief of Police in Baileyville.
- He said he was looking for a full-time police officer and because of my military background, he was wondering if I’d be interested in the job.
- I wasn’t looking for the job at the time, and I didn’t know the Police Chief well, so I thought, “Maybe this is from God. Maybe I’m supposed to be a cop.”
- And of course, some of those thoughts I had when I was a kid came to mind, such as “Cops are awesome! They get to put the blue lights on in the cruiser and pull people over, and drive fast, they carry a gun, and wear cool uniforms…”
- So there was part of me that was jumping up and down inside, and I was ready to say yes.
- But there was a problem…Sherri didn’t have a peace about it…
- And, even though I didn’t want to admit it, in the back of my mind, there was still hesitation…
- I didn’t have a peace about it.
- I met with the Chief, and asked a bunch of questions about the job, but then, God made it so abundantly clear to me that the answer was no…
- The call to become a pastor that I had suppressed in the back of my mind, it began to surface, and grow…
- And I knew God was saying no to the police job, because He had other plans.
- God was telling me it was time to start training for the ministry.
- In order for me to make the right decision, though, I had to be listening for God’s call…
- That’s where we find Moses in this passage…listening for God’s call…
- For 40 years now, he’s been perfectly content with being a shepherd and living in Midian.
- He’s 80 years old, and it’s very likely that he thought he would live out the rest of his days in Midian, watching over his flock of sheep.
- I don’t believe he ever forgot about his people in Egypt or stopped praying for them, but he had a family of his own now, and he worked as a shepherd for a living…I believe he was happy.
- But God had different plans for him, better plans.
- So as he’s tending to his flock, all of a sudden, the Angel of the Lord appears, in the midst of a bush, burning with fire, but not being consumed.
- Pay close attention to passages in the OT where you see that name, The Angel of the Lord.
- This is none other than Jesus Christ Himself…
- It’s called a Theophany, and when He appears, He always has a special message to deliver, a message from God Himself, personally delivered.
- Now imagine yourself walking along and all of a sudden, a burning bush appears, but the flames aren’t consuming it…
- Obviously, that’s not normal!
- If I saw something like that, I think I’d be scared out of my mind and would be running in the other direction.
- But notice that Moses doesn’t do that…
- Instead of being frightened away, Moses wants to see it up close.
- Why?
- I believe Moses knew this was nothing to be afraid of.
- He knew whatever this was, it was from God, and he wanted to see it.
- And as soon as it appeared, I believe Moses was listening for God’s call, understanding that this bush meant God had something important to say.
- Notice that Moses takes steps of faith as he moves toward the burning bush.
- And as he takes those steps of faith toward the unknown, he hears God’s voice… “Moses, Moses…”
- God was calling out to him, and I believe that Moses knew that he was hearing the voice of God.
- Why do I think he knew?
- Look at his response… “Here I am…”
- If he thought this was something evil, or something that was going to hurt him, I don’t think he would have answered!
- I know if I made it that far, I would have been speechless and probably frozen in fear!
- But Moses says, “Here I am…”
- Not only that, but there are several other places in Scripture where God speaks to someone, and they respond the same way…
- For example, in Genesis 22, God calls out to Abraham, and he says, “Here I am!”
- In Genesis 31 and 46, God speaks to Jacob, and he says, “Here I am!”
- In Isaiah 6:8, God says, “Who will I send? Who will go? And Isaiah responds, “Here I am Lord, send me…”
- In Acts 9, when the Lord appears to Ananias in a dream, he says, “Behold, I am here, Lord.”
- So this is a normal response to the voice of God all throughout Scripture.
- Now that God has Moses’ attention, and Moses trusts that this is God, God teaches him a couple of important lessons…
- He tells him to keep a distance.
- That’s because this was God in His glory, speaking through the fire in this bush, and if Moses came too close to Him, he wouldn’t be able to handle it…it would be too much for him.
- Second, he tells him to take his sandals off his feet.
- Some people might stop here and think, “Wait a minute, he had to take his sandals off because he couldn’t walk on holy ground? Could God somehow be contaminated by Moses?”
- The answer of course is no.
- Once again, this was God in His glory, and by telling him to take off his shoes, He is showing Moses the importance of maintaining a high view of God, by showing reverence for His presence.
- I like the way Adam Clarke explains it.
- He says, “Pulling off the shoes was, therefore, an emblem of laying aside the pollutions contracted by walking in the way of sin.”
- Notice what happens next.
- God tells Moses directly, “I’m God…the God of thy father, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.”
- This leaves no doubt in Moses’ mind that this is God…
- Think about it…Later, Moses in his flesh may have tried to rationalize the appearance in his mind… “I was asleep and dreaming” or “I was hallucinating…”
- No, God makes it perfectly clear, “I am God.”
- At this point, once it really sinks in that this is God, Moses immediately hides his face, and is afraid to look upon God.
- Why?
- Because he knew he was a lowly sinner.
- So what does listening for God’s call mean for us?
- First, we need to always be listening.
- Moses was working when he heard the call, leading his flock, but that didn’t stop him from listening as God called out to him…
- In our flesh, if we’re not careful, we might drown out the voice of God with all sorts of distractions or if we’re living in sin, following the world instead of Christ…
- You never know what God is going to call you to do.
- I’m not just talking about God calling pastors and deacons…
- No, God calls each of His followers to do something…
- That’s why there are so many gifts in the body of Christ…some can sing really well, others can do maintenance work, others love to cook, others are administratively gifted…
- There are so many different things God will call us to do, especially sharing the Gospel with the lost…
- But we need to be listening for His call, because an inactive Christian is an ineffective Christian, and that’s not where God wants us to be.
- So, I would ask the question…Are you listening for His voice this morning?
- Don’t ignore Him…trust His call
- Second, God’s call for us means we need to take it seriously.
- Just like Moses removed his shoes and realized how important and special this meeting with God was, we also should consider His call in our lives as important and special.
- Don’t do the Lord’s work half-heartedly…for example, if I got up here and talked to you for 30 minutes about the weather, or sports, or whatever, or maybe didn’t even study and write notes down, I wouldn’t be taking His calling in my life very seriously…I’d be doing all of you a disservice.
- So, are you taking God’s call in your life seriously?
II.) Be humble as He calls- Vs 7-12
- A man asked his pastor, "If Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him, why did He call him in the first place?"
- The pastor answered, "I don't know, but here's a harder question: Why did He call me?"
- Moses may very well have been thinking the same thing as God was talking with him… “Why me?”
- But notice what God says to him…
- “I have seen their affliction and their oppression…I have heard their cry…I know their sorrows…I am come down to deliver them…”
- As you can see, God had it under control…
- He could very well have done all of this without Moses.
- So why choose Moses?
- I believe it’s because he saw Moses’ heart, a humble heart.
- Also, He knew how deep Moses’ love for Him was going to be…we’re told later in Exodus that God talked with Moses face to face as a man talks to his friend…
- In the New Testament, Moses appears to Jesus with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.
- So Moses had a special relationship with God, and even before God called him here in Chapter 3, God knew that His relationship with Moses would be so close that He would call Moses His friend.
- Look at vs 11…
- Moses says unto God, “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and who am I that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt…
- He realizes the great honor and privilege that is being laid upon him, and he knows he doesn’t deserve it.
- Don’t miss his humility here.
- Remember, back in Chapter 2, we saw Moses kill an Egyptian because he thought the people would see him as their deliverer.
- But they didn’t, and he was forced to flee Egypt.
- I believe that his heart was completely genuine at that point, but he was attempting it without humility.
- Remember, he had been a General and led the Armies of Egypt against the Ethiopians, defeating them in battle.
- He was a prince, and he knew what power was.
- So he killed that Egyptian believing that he could lead his people out of Egypt.
- But his heart wasn’t humble, and of course it wasn’t yet God’s timing.
- So notice the change here, from a proud, arrogant attitude of, “I’m going to do this…” to a humble attitude here, “God’s going to do this…who am I to be part of this?”
- Obviously, he learned a lot in that 40 years of shepherding in the wilderness.
- God’s answer to him is “I will be with you…”
- That’s all you and I need to know, when God calls us to do something difficult… “I will be with you.”
- God doesn’t leave us hanging and expect us to take care of things ourselves.
- No, He is with us.
- Notice what God says next to him, though, as a promise…
- “This will be a token to you, when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain…”
- Don’t miss that.
- You will serve God upon THIS mountain.
- That mountain was Mt. Horeb which is also called Mt. Sinai.
- Just a brief history of where Mt. Sinai is located…
- Around 300 AD, Helena, the mother of Constantine the 1st decreed that the site of Mt. Sinai was in the southern peninsula of Egypt, so over the centuries, many Christians have believed that’s where Mt. Sinai is located.
- However, Moses was in Midian at this time, not Egypt.
- Scripture reveals that the region of Midian is the same as present day Saudi Arabia, so Mt. Sinai is probably located somewhere in Saudi Arabia, and there are theories of where the exact location is.
- Anyways, why I say that is because, going back to what God told Moses, “You will serve God upon This mountain…”
- That mountain was in Midian, not Egypt…and the children of Israel were in Egypt still.
- So God was promising Moses that after He delivered His people from Egypt, they would be back to this spot, in Midian, worshipping the Lord.
- And with that promise, God was building Moses’ faith, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.
- Now put yourself in Moses’ shoes for a moment…
- Working for 40 years as a shepherd, thinking you would live out the rest of your days in peace, watching over sheep.
- Then, God appears and tells you you’re the one who is going to lead His people out of Egypt.
- That’s a big responsibility!
- I think any normal person would have a struggle with pride, at least initially.
- Thinking something like, “I’m going to go in and kick Pharaoh’s butt, and I’m the one who gets to walk my people out of slavery. I’m the one God chose to do the job…”
- And Moses might have struggled with those thoughts too.
- But ultimately, his heart was humble…who am I, Lord?
- Humility in the lives of Christians is so important, because God hates pride.
- So how can we remain humble when God calls us to do something?
- First, realize that God created you, and He’s the One who’s given you the gifts and talents that you have.
- Sure, many of us have trained and practiced and worked hard to gain a certain talent…
- But when you really stop and think about it…the only reason you have the talent in the first place is because God has given it to you…
- He created you with that specific talent…whether you have the mind of a mathematician, or a scientist, or you’re a musician, or you work on cars, or you’re good with numbers…
- Anything that you’re good at, you are good at because of God.
- Even those who are not Christians can’t truly say they’ve gotten where they are on their own.
- God created them, He gave them their brain, He gave them their personality…
- So when you realize that without God, you wouldn’t have any skills or talents, it really pushes any pride out of the way, and keeps you humble.
- Trust me, I couldn’t be preaching up here today if it weren’t for the Lord training me and giving me the words to say.
- Without Him, I’d be putting you all to sleep! (Hopefully I’m not)
- Second, we can remain humble when God calls us to do something by doing it with a servant mindset.
- We’re told in Matthew 20:26, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be last.”
- It’s easy to go around doing things for ourselves.
- However, when you and I are called to do something, we must remember that it’s not for our own benefit…
- Yes, there will be benefit because God will bless us…
- But it’s not about us…
- It’s about the people God sends us to…a neighbor, or a coworker, or a friend…maybe a group of people…
- It’s about them and pointing them to Christ.
- With a servant mindset, we’re willing to do whatever it takes to do God’s will.
- Moses gave up his life as a shepherd to return to Egypt and deliver his people…that took a lot of sacrifice.
- God might be telling you and I to sacrifice something in order to be obedient.
- Pride says, “No way, I can’t do that…they don’t deserve it or that’s too hard, or I’ve got a better way of doing it…
- Humility says, “Whatever it takes, Lord. It’s not about me. It’s about you and this person or this situation.”
- Scripture is very clear on where God stands on the issue of pride.
- We’re told in James 4:6, “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.”
- In Proverbs 8, He says, “I hate pride and arrogance…” and Proverbs 16 says “Pride comes before destruction.”
- Now think about where God has you right now.
- Your career, your family, your friendships, your church, to name a few.
- I’ll just use your family as an example.
- God has called you to be a part of the family He’s given you…Mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister…
- Now think about your role in the family.
- Is your heart humble, as in, “Wow, Lord, I don’t deserve the family you’ve given me. I’m so thankful and I want to put them before me…”
- Or, are you struggling with pride?
- “My family would be nothing without me. I bring in the money. I put a roof over their head. I cook their dinner. I do their laundry…”
- Pride causes damage, and it pulls you away from the Lord.
- I’ll close with an illustration.
- I know a man who had a problem with trusting God’s call…no one in this area…He lives in a different state.
- He thought God was calling him to the ministry, so he went to Bible College.
- After Bible College, he thought God was calling him to be a missionary, but not overseas…he was going to be a missionary in the United States.
- So he took his family on deputation to churches all over the country, trying to raise support.
- He worked really hard to open the door…
- But God closed the door.
- He got angry at God and stopped going to church, started drinking, and for about 3 or 4 years, he had nothing to do with the Lord.
- Then, one day, he decided God wanted him to move his family and go to the mission field on faith.
- Well when he moved, he joined a pastor who was already working in that area, but he was older, so this man thought he would take over once the other pastor retired.
- Well, God closed that door…
- The pastor of that church chose someone else to take over…
- So, this man tried another church in that area with an older pastor who was pastoring 2 churches, and wanted to give one up…
- Well, God closed that door for him as well.
- Once again, he decided he was going to do things on his own, so he started his own church.
- Very few people went to it, and within 2 years, the doors closed.
- Since God closed that door, he attempted to apply at another church in a different state, and he got the job.
- Things didn’t work out, so not even 3 years later, God closed that door, and he attempted to candidate as pastor at one of the other churches in the area.
- They ended up hiring someone else, so he found another church in the area that needed a pastor, and they hired him.
- Once again, it wasn’t even 2 years later that God closed that door.
- Of course, since God kept closing doors for him, he got angry, and he was drinking, and going to strip clubs…he was married, by the way…
- So he moved away to another state, and attempted to plant his own church there.
- Then he got in trouble with the police for something he shouldn’t have been doing, and God closed that door.
- About a year later, he planted another church.
- Sadly, that man didn’t get the hint.
- God’s calling for him was not to be in the ministry.
- He kept closing door after door after door, trying to tell him, “I haven’t called you to the ministry…”
- I think God was trying to call him to be a better parent and husband, but he was neglecting that, and focusing on himself, because he was puffed up by his own pride, and his heart was not humble.
- If he had only listened to God’s voice, and trusted God’s call to be a family man, perhaps God would have opened the door for him to pastor one day.
- Instead, he did things his way, and God didn’t bless that.
- Today, he’s no better than when he started Bible college…he never listened to God’s voice.
- Brothers and sisters, don’t be like that gentleman.
- Listen for God’s call…and there are many things he calls us to in this life…
- Sharing His love with the lost, giving money to help the needy, raising your family, helping out with things in church, and the list goes on…
- Listen for His voice, and when you hear Him call you to do something or go somewhere, proceed with a humble heart…
- Just like Moses had God’s blessing, you will too.
