Real Life. Weak Faith. Perfect Savior.

Protected… Pursued… Pushed… into our Purpose

I love the story of Moses and how it clearly shows the process God uses to use us.

Protected

First, Moses was protected from certain danger before he even knew he needed protecting. Moses was born at a time that would have seemed to be a certain end for him… before he even had a chance to try… but God intentionally protected Moses.

Exodus 2:5-10

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Looking back over my life I can see very clearly how the Lord protected me from certain death – physical and spiritual – at times when I didn’t even know I needed protecting. I bet you could say the same thing… how do I know this? The fact that you’re reading this means He has protected you to this point… for a very specific reason.

Pursued

The bible is clear through out that no one seeks after God. God is the pursuer. He is relentless. He comes after us both for our good and ultimately for His glory. Looking back over my life I can certainly say that this is not just true from what scripture says… its true based on my own experience. Here’s what else is true for me… and I bet for you… God came after me when I least expected it and in a way that I wouldn’t have expected. He designed His pursuit specifically for me.

That’s what He did for Moses… I bet that’s what He did (or is about to do) for you, too.

Exodus 3: 1-4

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

Pushed

Why would God protect us and then pursue us if He didn’t have a purpose for us? I don’t think He would… He saves us to use us. Why, I really don’t know. God doesn’t need us but He has decided that for Him to secure the most glory He will use the most needy.

The problem for us – or at least for me – is that, like Moses, I don’t really want to be used. Or, I should say, I have no real desire to be placed in tough circumstances where the odds are stacked against me and I really have to trust God for things to work out. I like loving God when everything is easy and the deck is stacked in my favor. I think that’s how Moses liked loving God too.

Exodus 3: 10-14

I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

This is just the first of several attempts by Moses to get out of the whole “deliver my people” demand by God. How many times do we seek to tell God why there is a better way to do something or there is someone better to use than us or that the situation is too difficult right now and that He should wait for a better time?

What I love about God is that even though He isn’t dependent on me to do anything, He stops at nothing to get me to something He has prepared (in advance) for me to do (Ephesians 2:10). Why? I am not completely sure, but I think its simply because He loves me and wants me to have the best chance possible to love Him in the biggest way possible.

The story of Moses goes on to prove that God could use Moses to do something he didn’t think he could do AND that as a result, Moses’ love for God and his relationship with God went to places he also thought weren’t possible.

The pattern of Moses’s life – I’m starting to see – is the pattern of my life:

God’s protection – even when I can’t see it.
God’s pursuit – even when I don’t want it.
God’s pushing – even when I know I can’t do it.

Every time I say to Him, “I can’t do this…” He gently reminds me, “I know, I AM”. God loves me in THIS way – I now believe – so I can love Him more in EVERY way.

One of the traits that beguiles me, and most men at times, is this desire to prove myself. This is something that I think we (men) are born with and hold onto forever. It is contrary to the teachings of the bible yet all segments of our society applaud this trait and see it as something that is to be admired. So, for a man who is trying to follow Jesus this creates quite the dilemma. Do I do what feels natural and continue to jockey for position, labor for attention, fight to be right, strive harder for recognition and elevate my self-worth OR do I the opposite of all those things, like Jesus did?

Jesus taught us and demonstrated for us that we are to do the opposite. That’s the gist of the whole Sermon on the Mount and the whole of Jesus’ human experience. During his time on this earth he lived everyday not to prove himself but to prove God. Think about it, how often did Jesus refrain from exerting his authority – prove himself on the spot – to instead trust God with the moment and allow God to prove himself faithful in the end? Jesus did this without fail because his trust in his Father was greater than his need to prove himself capable of handling the situation on his own.

I know that God equips us to do great things and sometimes when that happens it will bring attention our way. My point here is not that we will never exert great effort and be seen by those around us as having done something well and thereby gain some form of recognition. Every miracle Jesus performed was at the leading of God and every act of Jesus drew huge amounts of attention. But, we never see Jesus acting to gain attention… as a matter of fact we often see him running from the attention that came his way due to his actions… why? Even though he was God he didn’t see value in proving himself as a man but in elevating the power of his Father so that at the right time he would receive his due reward… from his Father… not instantly from men. (Phil 2:5-11)

I hate how often I strive to prove myself capable of handling a situation instead of seeing it as an opportunity to prove my trust in God. There really is only one reason I would do that… its because at that moment I value the instant reward of men over the ultimate reward of God.

My hope is that as I walk forward through this life that I will seek to prove God and not myself. Recognizing the momentary rush that pride brings in a success will, in time, feel like agony compared to the everlasting pulse of joy provided by a Father who has proven himself to me.

As I have been reading through the book of Genesis, I continue to be amazed at how easy it is to relate to the stories of the individuals highlighted in the book. The obvious common thread is that God is at work in the lives of His people… even up against our will… and this is most evident in the way He has to continuously thwart our attempts to be in control.

In chapters 17 and 18, I was really struck by how much my life is similar to Abraham’s.

God gave Abram a new name.

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham…” – Genesis 17:3-5

Abraham reverted to his old ways.

And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” – Genesis 17:18

God’s grace and greatness prevailed.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? – Genesis 18:14

Just like Abraham, I was confronted by God because He wanted to give me a “new name” and set a new direction for my life. He saved me by His design through the blood of His son for the sake of His name and for a specific purpose. (Ephesians 1 & 2)

Just like Abraham, I have found myself offering God my suggestions on how to short cut His plan when I couldn’t see how things could possible workout the way God told me they would. I can’t tell you how many times I have offered God my “Ishmael” because of my lack of trust in Him coming through with His “Isaac”.

But!

Just like Abraham, I have seen God reject my simple, man made suggestions and prove that “nothing is too hard for the LORD”. God will not compromise and He will not accept a lesser way and He will not re-direct His plan for me. He has made me wait, for sure, but He has never failed me and He has never failed to do exactly what His word says He will do. He is too gracious and too great.

I am so thankful for a God who isn’t moved by my weak minded and trust lacking suggestions. God does as God says He will do and just like Abraham neither you or I can stop Him because He has promised to finish what He starts (Philippians 1:6).

So, just like Abraham… I’ve been given a new name and no matter how often I revert to my old ways, God will prove His grace and greatness.