Series: Champions of Grace Moses Lesson 1

Moses...Champion through self-sufficiency 

                                      

                                            Every which way but up

Exodus 2: 11-15 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. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 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?” 14 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!” 15 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.

Briefly, let's remind ourselves of Moses background. From the womb Moses was called to deliver his people, the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. Moses was born to Hebrew slaves, but by divine providence he became the son of Pharaoh's daughter. As the son of Pharaoh's daughter he was raised as an Egyptian Prince. However, one day Moses fully resolved to cast away his Egyptian heritage to embrace God's call to deliver his people. The above text reveals what happened when Moses finally decided to step into that calling. Exodus 2:11 is the moment he made the monumental decision, I am now going to answer the call that God has on my life.

Yet, reading vs 11-15 we see it did not turn out well for Moses. In fact, it was an absolute disaster. And what was the problem? We find a BIG clue in verse 12: So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Using your sanctified imagination, picture this in your mind: Moses takes a good look around. He looks this way; he looks that way. But where is the one direction he did not look? Up! He looked every which way but up! Why he did not look up? Because there is absolutely nothing in him that senses his need for God. There is absolutely nothing in his Egyptian nature that feels a need for God's help. Okay God, thanks for showing me your will, now I can take it from here. 

So, what does this tell us about Moses? He was fully self-reliant.  He relied on no one but himself. You see, Moses was raised a Prince in Egypt and he was a man of tremendous self strength and abilities. As Prince in Egypt his own strength and abilities were always sufficient to accomplish his goals. He was a man who walked, trusted and boasted in his own great strength. 

So, what does God have to do? He has to convince Moses that when it comes to walking out the plan of God, self-strength will always fall terribly short. You see, God is not interested in accomplishing a man-sized task, He wants to accomplish a God-sized task so that He receives God-sized glory. 

So, how does God begin to convince Moses? 13 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?” 14 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!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from [b]the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

God allowed Moses to horribly fail. God used a place of terrible failure to begin to show Moses that his own strength was useless in trying to fulfill the call of God. Can I just say that in my own life God has used failure to produce a deeper dependence upon God. There were times God let me walk in my own strength, strive in my own strength, and fail in my own strength to show me you can't do anything without me. 

Failure can be very painful. Failure brings those deep, remorseful feelings, I disappointed myself, I disappointed others, and most of all, I disappointed God. Yet, in walking nearly three decades with our gracious Lord, here is what I have learned, Sometimes when we feel like God is most disappointed in us, that is when He is most pleased with us. You see, in our failure God sees a humility coming into our heart that He can work with. Peter is a perfect example. Peter denying Jesus was the best thing that could have happened to Peter. When Peter denied Jesus, the Father in heaven was pleased. Why? Because Peter's failure was God's success. It was the very thing God used to break Peter's pride and produced in his life a humility He could really begin to work with. 

Understand: if the bible reveals anything about character-building it is this: grace often does it's deepest work in places of failure. Failure was the turning point in Jacob's life, failure was the turning point in Moses life, and failure was the turning point in Peter's life. Beloved, somewhere in your grace-walk with the Lord, failure will be a turning point in your life. 

So, in this place of horrible failure Moses flees to Midian. Where does he end up? Sitting by a well. Moses finally feels like he has run far enough to escape the long arm of Pharaoh. Yet, sitting by this well, Moses is feeling the deep disappointment in his own strength. He is feeling the grief over how much his own strength has failed him. I am sure if we had been standing next to Moses and asked him, How do you feel right now, Moses? He would have looked over at the well and said, I feel like I am at the bottom of the well. You can't get any lower than the bottom of a well. He would have been right. He was at the lowest place in his life. However, take a moment to consider this question: if you are trapped at the bottom of a well, where is the only direction you can look? Up! Deliverance and rescue is only coming from one direction: up! My point is, for the first time in his life Moses is in a place where there is no other direction he can look but up.

This well is where Moses begins his long, 40 year journey from self-sufficiency to God-dependency. The wilderness of Midian is the place where God will thoroughly convince Moses, You can't even walk without me holding your hand. When Moses finally leaves Midian 40 years later to answer the call of God on his life, he is a man who is fully reliant upon God. Because he no longer relies on his own strength and abilities, as a God-reliant man he walks in complete obedience to the Lord. Moses will not move until he has heard from God. 

I want to close with this thought: my precious brother and sister in Christ, what well are you in right now? The well of ill-health? The well of financial-need? The well of adversity? By my own experience I can tell you wells can be a very scary place because you feel so trapped and powerless.  Yet take heart, you are not there to stay. God is using it to perform a deep work in your life. When He finally brings you out, you will come out with such a deeper intimacy, dependence and strength in God. Praise the Lord!