INTRODUCTION: The church's potency and influence is contingent on the saints of God operating in the full potential of the giftings and talents God has endowed them with. By the same token, the church will remain weak and ineffective if God's people are discouraged, unintentional and poor stewards of their giftings and talents. Moses is one person the enemy tries harm by quenching, nullifying and causing to forfeit his giftings and talents.
"At that time Moses was born, and was fair in the sight of God. And he was reared for three months in his father's house. When he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in words and in deeds" (Acts 7:20-22).
Moses 'Lost' his Powerful Words & Deeds
Moses grew up "powerful in words and in deeds." That was his testimony. That was who he was. He was confident, articulate, eloquent, a great communicator and strong physically. It is amazing that the same Moses, when God called him years later, would repeatedly give excuses for the same qualities and giftings God had given him. He was about 40 years old when he struck down the Egyptian and had to flee to Midian. For the next 40 years, he was a shepherd in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. And then the Lord encountered him powerfully in the burning bush (Acts 7:23-34). A long time had passed since Moses was "mighty in words and deeds." We are about to see how far Moses had departed, from an eloquent, mighty man to an insecure, stuttering shepherd in the wilderness.
Moses' Excuses & Insecurities
When God called him to deliver His people from Pharaoh, Moses would give these excuses:
• "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11b).
• "What shall I say to them?" (Exodus 3:13c).
• "But they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice" (Exodus 4:1b).
• "O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant. But I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue" (Exodus 4:10).
• "O my Lord, send, I pray, by the hand of whomever else You will send" (Exodus 4:13).
God Restored Moses' Voice
Watch how the Lord breathed life to the very giftings of Moses that had become dead and buried, resurrected his hope and confidence, brought vision to his disillusionment and spoke promise into his prophetic destiny. God was speaking directly to the very places of strength that had become weaknesses in Moses' life. God was building up this man of God again. He was restoring the power of Moses' voice:
And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and He said, "You will say this to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'?"God, moreover, said to Moses, "Thus you will say to the children of Israel, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'
"Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. Therefore, I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."
"They shall listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Therefore, now, let us go, we ask you, three days' journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'"
Footnotes: "Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you must say" (Exodus 4:12).
God Restored Moses' Mighty Deeds
The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
And he said, "A rod."
He said, "Throw it on the ground."
And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. Then Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Put forth your hand and take it by the tail." And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. "This is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
The Lord said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, his hand was as leprous as snow.
He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his bosom again and brought it out of his bosom, and it was restored like his other flesh.
"If they will not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, then they may believe the voice of the latter sign. But if they will not believe also these two signs or listen to your voice, then you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land, and the water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land" (Exodus 4:2-9).
"You must take this rod in your hand, with which you will perform the signs" (Exodus 4:17).
Prophetic Significance
The Lord expects us to put our giftings and talents to work, not just to impact the church but to impact the world and the marketplace. The body of Christ has lost her place of influence and power because of a passive and poor stewardship of the giftings and talents. Many believers have heard the call of God, have sensed His grace on the unique giftings and talents in their lives. However, due to circumstances in life over time, many have become jaded, discouraged, disillusioned, passive, lost their vision and passion concerning the very calling, giftings and talents that He has given to them. 2017 is a reset for a lot of people not just chronologically, but spiritually as well.
The Lord says, "I am going to speak to many concerning the giftings and talents that I have ordained over your life before you were born. Many of you have felt my grace and anointing in those areas. Many of you have stewarded well and I say 'Well done, faithful ones.' But many have stewarded poorly and have buried my giftings and talents over your life in the ground. You have been distracted and have lost the passion. You have been overcome by the cares of life that have shifted your focus and vision. But know this, my giftings are irrevocable. I am not taking back what I have given you. I am going to breathe life into your giftings and talents that have been shelved, ignored, neglected and put on the back burner. I am resurrecting dreams and visions that you have buried. There is going to be spiritual realignment like a plumb line in the New Year. I am going to orchestrate things in your life where your giftings and talents will be brought to the forefront from the background. So be intentional and be diligent. As you steward your giftings well, I will bring you into places of influence, favor and promotion. I am going to place godly ones over the strategic leadership positions in the top of the mountains of influence in society. Revisit the things I have spoken over your life. For many of you, I'm restoring your voice to impact your environment where you have felt muffled. I am restoring power and strength over your life where you have felt defeated. Mighty deeds will be done through many of your hands that will astound many, even yourself. Pick up that rod of faith and watch the miracles I am about to do in and through your life in the New Year."
