Facing the Giants of Life
When You Look Up – Look a Little Higher!
“Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:11-15)
A man once bought a horse from a missionary. The missionary told the buyer, "There is a special thing about this horse. You have to say ’Thank God’ to make it go and ’Amen’ to make it stop. "Not paying much attention, the man replied, "Sure, OK." So he got on the horse and said, "Thank God" and the horse started walking. Then he said, "Thank God, thank God, " and the horse started trotting. Feeling really brave, the man said, "Thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God" and the horse just took off. Pretty soon he saw a cliff coming up and he did everything he could to make the horse stop. "Whoa, stop, hold on!!!!" Finally he remembered, "Amen!" The horse stopped four inches from the cliff. The man leaned back in the saddle and said, "Thank God!"
Sometimes when it comes to facing the giants of life we just don’t know what to say or what to do. Moses had to learn than when we fight the giants of life we need to learn where to look before we learn what to do or say.
I. MOSES LOOKED (EXODUS 2:11-14)
A. Moses began with His Own Perspective
He had been trained to look at things from the world’s point of view all of his life. “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). The wisdom of the Egyptians would have included all of their sciences, philosophies, and religion. Moses also was mighty in words and deeds. The historian Josephus wrote that Moses was a general in Pharaoh’s army and led in a great military victory against the Ethiopians. In the eyes of others and probably in his own eyes, Moses was a great man.
As great a man as Moses was, those strengths were also his weaknesses. His upbringing blinded him to a giant beyond his imagination. The giant was Egypt and he was a part of it! This reminds us that God is very selective in using people with great natural abilities because those abilities so often get in the way (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
B. Moses Became Aware of God’s Perspective
Something happened when Moses turned forty that caused him to turn his eyes away from himself to God’s people. “It came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren” (Exodus 2:11). Acts 7:23 tells us that Moses went to visit with his people. He spent time with them and listened to the witness of God’s Spirit. As a result, Moses chose to leave Egypt and identify with God’s people.
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27)
Through God’s eyes, Moses saw a giant of immense proportions. That Egyptian beating a Hebrew represented the whole nation of Egypt. It ruled the world and the Hebrews were helpless before it. Moses rightly saw the need to fight and kill that giant. “He supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand” (Acts 7:25).
Moses saw what God wanted done but now he needed to learn to do those things God’s way. Because Moses didn’t understand God’s ways he tried to fight that giant his way (Exodus 2:11-15). Two great principles can be seen in this passage:
·We must learn to fight God’s battles God’s way. Israel was told to take the city of Jericho. They would take it by shouting rather than with swords and spears. Gideon was to take on the Midianites. God told him to do it with three hundred men with pitchers and trumpets. David would face Goliath but he would do it with a sling, five stones, and God.
·We must learn to fight God’s battles in God’s time. God was calling Moses to deliver His people but the time had not yet come. He was in a hurry to see things happen. God’s ways and God’s timing are important!
II. MOSES NEED TO LOOK HIGHER (EXODUS 2:15-3:17)
He Had to Look Beyond His Problem
We are far too often focused on the giant we are fighting against rather than the God we are fighting for. Joshua went to study the giant of Jericho but met the Captain of the Hosts of God’s army. Elisha prayed that his servant would see beyond the encamped armies of the enemy and see the army of God. If Saul would have looked beyond and above Goliath he would have seen the God that David saw and trusted. Moses had to come to know the great “I AM” before he could go back and fight the giant of Egypt.
When you face a giant in life, stop and look to God. Remember the words of Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The sin that entangles all of us is unbelief. It is taking our eyes off of Jesus. The call of Scripture is to put our eyes back on Christ who begins and finishes our faith.
He Had to Come Before the Lord
Moses had to learn some giant fighting lessons that only some time alone with God could teach. God saw a man who needed the real qualities it takes to fight God’s battles so He sent Moses to the land of Midian for a forty year re-education program. There in Midian, Moses was taught two lessons we all need to learn.
First, he learned the lesson of submission. This former general of Egypt had to go and live under the authority of a shepherd (Exodus 2:16-22). This man who had owned the riches of Egypt now worked by keeping someone else’s sheep (Exodus 3:1). For forty long years God let Moses live on the backside of nowhere learning to be in submission. We cannot be used by God to fight His battles until we learn this lesson well! Often it isn’t what we need to get to be a giant killer, it is what we need to give up. Moses needed some things removed from his life before God could use him. He needed his status and pride removed. He needed his ideas of how to do things removed. He needed his estimation of himself to be removed. What is there in your life that gets in the way of God doing His will through you?
Secondly, he learned the lesson of revelation. Moses needed to look a little higher – He needed to see the God who was sending him to fight the giant of Egypt. He learned three great truths about God that turns us into giant killers:
·God always hears and sees (2:23-25).
·God knows where you are all the time (3:1-4).
·We need to focus on who God is (3:5-15).
Remember: a giant is anything that stands between you and where God wants you to be. Whatever is standing in your way – look beyond it. Look a little higher and remember Who God is and what He has promised.
