Duck & Cover
My daughter Ella Grace has always been afraid of people dressed up like mascots. So when we go to a football game or a baseball game, she doesn’t want to be any where near the team mascot. It terrifies her.
One of the places we used to take the kids when they were younger, & we still go to sometimes, is Chuck E Cheese. I don’t know if you know much about Chuck E Cheese. It’s kid heaven. They’ve got arcade games, music, pizza & all that. But they also have a person dressed up in a huge Chuck E Cheese costume wandering around the place. I’m not sure who thought this was a good idea, to have a 6 foot tall rat as your mascot walking around a place designed in every other way for kids.
I’ll never forget the time we were at Chuck E Cheese & we’re in our booth eating pizza when Chuck E Cheese walks up behind Ella Grace &, he’s about to give her a hug… when she sees him & realizes he’s about to touch her, she jumped under the table so fast. She wasn’t about to have any part of that!
A Life of Avoidance
Sometimes we do this, don’t we? We see that person coming, that situation coming, & we do everything within our power to avoid it.
If you’ve ever experienced anything like this, then you know what happens when that situation presents itself. You begin to come up with a million reasons why you can’t talk to that person, why you don’t have time or you’re not the right one or… the list goes on & on. The truth is you’re just afraid. You don’t want to do it because of fear.
Maybe if you just wait then the problem will go away. So you avoid it. But a life of avoidance is not a life of freedom.
Our unwillingness to do what we know is right can lead to a life of avoidance.
And avoidance is usually a symptom of disobedience.
[Tweet “Avoidance is usually a symptom of disobedience.”]Moses Tries to Dodge God 5 Times
That’s exactly what happens with Moses. Except Moses wasn’t hiding under a table, he was hiding in another country.
Moses ran away from Egypt because he had killed a man & his private sin became public knowledge. When he found out that everyone found out what he did, he ran away. Not so courageous.
He ran away to the desert to a place called Midian, & that’s where Moses would spend the next 40 years of his life.
And it was during that 40 years of isolation that this happened…
23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.
It’s been 40 years since Moses killed that Egyptian. It’s been 40 more years of his people back in Egypt still suffering under their oppression. It’s been 40 years of being alone in the desert that God comes & God speaks to Moses.
And this is what God says…
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending YOU to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
God essentially says to Moses, you can runaway & hide in obscurity. But your hiding is over. I need you. It’s time to get back in the game.
God gets Moses alone in the desert and it’s there that He can speak with him & tell him that despite his epic failure in the past God has epic plans for his future.
God tells Moses that he is fully aware of the suffering of His people & that it’s time to deliver them from their oppression. And then God drops the bomb — Moses, you’re going to be the one to do it! I need you to go & approach Pharaoh.
To which Moses responds… Wait, what!? You want me, a nobody, an obscure shepherd living in a far away country to go back to Egypt, where no one wants me, & approach the most powerful person in the known world?
1 :: Personal Insecurity
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
It’s at this point in the story that Moses begins to second guess God.
Have you ever done this? You know, when you know what the right thing to do is, but you simply don’t want to do it. God tells Moses exactly what He wants him to do, but Moses pushes back.
And listen close to how Moses pushes back against what God wants him to do. Moses says, “Who am I?”
The reason Moses protests God’s plan for him is rooted first in Moses’ own PERSONAL INSECURITY.
So often our reasons for not wanting to do what God wants us to do is rooted in our own personal insecurity, as if the God who called us won’t also equip us to do what He’s calling us to do.
[Tweet “The God who calls us will also equip us to do what He’s calling us to do. #DoGoodBeBrave”]But Moses isn’t done protesting God, He isn’t done second guessing God.
2 :: Doubting God
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
First, Moses objects by saying, “Who am I?” Second, Moses objects by saying, “Who are you?”
So Moses isn’t just basing his fear & objections on his insecurity about who he is, Moses has DOUBTS ABOUT GOD._
Have you ever done that? Ever doubted God?
In Moses’ defense, Israel has been in captivity for some 400 years. It’s been a long time since the days of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. Moses himself has been alone in the desert chasing sheep for the last 40 years. No one has heard from God in a long time. So Moses isn’t just insecure in who he is, he’s doubting who God is… even though in this exact moment HE IS TALKING TO GOD IN A BURNING BUSH!
Twice now, Moses has second guessed God. Two times now Moses has refused to do what God is asking him to do. But Moses isn’t done with his protest just yet. O boy.
3 :: Blaming Them
1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
First it was about Moses’ insecurity, then it was Moses’ doubts about God, now Moses is BLAMING THEM. What if THEY don’t believe me.
Ever done this? You know the right thing to do but you don’t want to do it. So you start with your insecurity. Then you doubt God. Last resort – blame them. Whoever “they” are, it’s their fault you can’t do what you know is right to do.
Three times now Moses has tried to get out of this. But he’s still not done!
4 :: It’s Not My Spiritual Gift
10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
Um, God, I don’t have that spiritual gift. Now Moses is back to his own insecurity. God, I simply can’t do what you want me to do because… I can’t talk real good.
Really? Do you think for one moment that the God who is the giver of every spiritual gift won’t give you whatever you need to accomplish what He’s asking you to do? That the God who called you won’t equip you?
But how many times in your life, in my life, have we missed out on what God has for us because we are unwilling to do what we know God wants us to do because of our own insecurity? Too many times.
God wouldn’t call Moses into this only to abandon him. God knows Moses can’t do this without him. Moses would rather live an uneventful life on his own terms than step into the epic life God has for him.
At this point, Moses begs God…
5 :: Please, No!
13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
FIVE times now Moses has asked God to pick someone else to be on his team. FIVE times God says, “No, your my guy.”
If you’ve ever wondered if our God is a patient God, if our God is a persistent God, if our God is willing to work with us… this story reminds us that yes… God is incredibly kind & patient & persistent with Moses.
But notice, God never makes Moses do anything. Instead, He’s inviting Moses into one of the greatest stories the world has ever known.
And Moses almost missed it. Moses almost opted out. Moses almost said no.
But after arguing with God, Moses finally says, “Ok God.”
And because Moses was able to summon a small amount of courage & be obedient to God Israel experienced deliverance by God.
[Tweet “Courage plus obedience leads to deliverance. #DoGoodBeBrave”]If you fast forward through the story, Moses does go in obedience to God to meet with Pharaoh. And because Moses was obedient to God, Pharaoh eventually let the people of Israel go. But it all started with Moses deciding to have the courage to be obedient to God that led to their ultimate deliverance.
What About You?
In what area of your life does God want you to take action? In what area of your life do you need to be obedient to God? In what area of your life right now are you living in disobedience to God?
You can point to your own insecurity. You can doubt God. You can blame others. But at some point you have to make a decision – Will you be obedient to God?
We’ve said this before, that you never know what hangs in the balance when you decide to do the right thing. Another way to say that is that you never know what hangs in the balance when you decide to OBEY God.
[Tweet “You never know what hangs in the balance when you decide to OBEY God. #DoGoodBeBrave”]And your obedience is never just about you. Like Moses, it almost always has an impact on others.
Here’s what I know is true…
Small courage plus obedience leads to ultimate deliverance.
So whatever it is, whoever it is, have the courage to be obedient to God & do what you know is right & just see if it leads to your deliverance.
