God does demand usefulness in our lives, Matthew 25:15, 19, 24-26. it should be an earnest desire, a continual aching in her heart to be used of God, 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. what one thing are you allowing God to do through you? Let me say these things about being used of the Lord: no one ever drifts into usefulness. Usually there is a crisis in our life that brings us to a decision to serve in a certain way. So, what must God do to get us usable?
I. Get Us Out of the Backside of the Desert of Failure
1. Moses was not just in the desert, but the backside of the desert.
2. It's a long way from the palace to the backside of the desert.
3. There are a great number of Christians existing on the backside of the desert. Why?
a. Many have tried to serve God at one time and failed.
b. Like Moses they thought they were a mighty deliver but now they are just a sheepherder.
4. In verse 11, “Who am I?”, when Moses thought he could accomplish great things for God, he could not.
a. He was in the flesh.
b. Now he says, “I cannot.”, but God says, “Now you’re ready.”
c. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
5. This event was a critical time in the life of Moses.
a. It was a turning point in his life.
b. Perhaps the most important time of his life.
6. I see three things about Moses’ life that we can and need to apply to our self.
7. First God must get us out of the desert of discouragement, failure, and put us in a position where he can anointing commissioners to do his work.
II. There Must be a Response to God’s Call
1. Moses is doing his work. He is doing what he had been doing for years.
a. Perhaps he had passed by this Bush 1000 times.
b. But this time this Bush was different.
2. Moses did not know God was going to speak to him that day.
a. You don't always know when God is going to speak to you.
b. God usually speaks to us when we do not expect him to.
c. There are times when I expect a God to speak, great opportunity.
1) Surely God will use this.
2) Surely God will deliver me this way.
d. We need to be ready at any moment to hear God speak.
3. I am sure when Moses woke up that day, he thought it was just going to be another day in the desert.
• I wonder if he thought in his mind that God might have forgotten about him.
4. In verse 4, when the Lord saw, God was watching. God was trying to get Moses’ attention.
a. Can I say God knows how and where to burn our Bush?
b. Sometimes it's a broken heart.
5. I wonder if you were ready to respond to the call of God.
a. Notice three things about this call:
1) it's a personal call.
a) God always deals with us as individuals.
b) God may not speak to anyone else in this service, but he may speak to you.
2) It's a priority call.
a) God is trying to draw us to himself.
b) This call must take priority over everything else.
c) Matthew 6:33
d) Luke 12:15-20
e) Moses forgot about his sheep.
f) He forgot about his job for a while when he turned aside.
g) God has ways to show us what our priorities are. God only talks to us one at a time.
3) It's a call to prepare, verse 5.
a) In verse 7, there is a Commission, but before the Commission there must be the preparation.
b) God's message is always given to a prepared heart.
c) So first there must be a response to God's call. Next:
III. There Must be a Reverence for God’s Character
1. In verse 5, you don’t rush into God’s presence.
2. What we need today is a new reverence for God’s character.
a. We have gotten too flippant with God.
b. He is not the man upstairs, the good old god.
c. He is so holy the angels could not even look upon Him.
3. If this is going to happen, there are two things we must do:
a. We must come into His presence with holiness. This would eliminate all sin and foolishness in our life.
b. We must come in humility, “Moses hid his face.”
IV. There Must be a Responsibility in God’s Cause.
1. In verse 12, God said I want to do something with you.
2. There is a time to put your shoes off, but there is a time to put them back on.
3. Whenever God reveals Himself to you, He wants to do something through you.
a. God was not wanting to deliver just Moses.
b. God’s main concern was not just to get Moses out of the desert, but to get Israel out of Egypt.
4. So, if you want to get out of the backside of the desert, you must be willing to take a responsibility to God’s cause.
a. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, it is a passing on situation.
b. God blesses me, that I might be a blessing.
5. If we take a responsibility in God’s cause, we must:
a. 1st, we must recognize our own weakness.
b. 2nd, we must renounce our own strength.
c. Afterwards, Moses was never the same.
d. He was a different man.
e. You will be too!
