Moses...Champion through self-sufficiency
Sheep? Help!!!
Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led them to the backside of the desert...
The bible tells us that in Midian, Moses became a shepherd. Married to Zipporah, he kept his father in law's sheep.
There is a truth I want us to recognize here about the working of God in our lives. God uses all things to show us just how much we need Him and need His help. You see, somewhere in shepherding sheep, Moses realized he couldn't even take care of sheep without the Lord's help. God brought Moses to the understanding, I can't even take tend to sheep if the Lord don't help me.
Isn't it amazing that as Prince in Egypt, boldly setting out on conquests and conquering, Moses never sensed his need for God's help. Isn't it astounding, going out and performing great feats and exploits for the glory of Egypt, he never realized his need for God. His own self-strength was always sufficient for these things. Yet, now taking care of sheep, God brings him to the realization, You can't even take care of sheep without me.
My point is that somehow God used ordinary sheep to transform Moses into the meekest, most God-dependent man on the earth.
I would like to turn our attention away from Moses and see this in the gospels
Matthew 14:22-32 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain to pray. When the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves. And in the forth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out with fear. But Jesus immediately spoke to them, saying, "It is I. Don't be afraid."
This is a powerful story full of tremendous truths. Yet, this is what I want to bring out: before the disciples met Jesus, they had always found their own strength sufficient to hoist the sails and row the oars. Their human strength was always adequate to sail back and forth across the sea of Galilee. We know that Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen, sailing this sea with their fathers probably before they could walk. They were very seasoned sailors. So for the disciples, up to this point, when it came to sailing upon water, they were very self-sufficient; they could do this in their own strength without any problems at all.
I am sure that day when Jesus said to them, Get into the ship and sail to the other side, they thought to themselves, Sail to the other side? No problem, Jesus. We've been doing that long before we met you. We really don't need you in this. You go ahead and do whatever you got planned, and we'll sail to the other side. When it comes to sailing, we are very self-sufficient and we really don't need your help in this. So, don't worry about us; just take care of whatever it is you need to take care of.
Here is something else to consider: when the disciples began following Jesus there were some things they saw very quickly that required His help and supernatural power. When it came to feeding the five thousand with a few fish and bread; when it came to healing the blind, deaf and lame; when it came to turning water into wine, Oh Jesus; we can't do this without your mighty power. Please help us, Jesus. However, when it came to sailing their boats on the water, that is one area they did even think about asking Jesus for help. They did this hundreds of times, before Jesus ever came along.
And I am sure there are places in our own lives where we really see how much we desperately need Jesus' help. I am sure there are areas in our own life we realize I can't do this without your supernatural strength and power. Help me, Jesus. But I am also sure all of us have things in our life we have been doing for a long time and doing it well, and we really do not see how much we need His help. Well, this is where the disciples are at in Matthew 14. There are places in my life I really need your help, power and strength, and there are other areas in my life where I am self-reliant; I can do it because I have been doing it a long time; long before I ever met you, Jesus.
Yet, capture this: Jesus is about to teach the disciples a lesson and perform a transforming work in their lives at the same time. He is going to do it through a storm. You see, in Matthew 14, when this massive storm hit, here is what the disciples learned very quickly: Places where my own strength was sufficient, isn't sufficient anymore. Though I have sailed these waters hundreds of times, suddenly this is so much bigger and stronger than me. This is something much more powerful than my human strength. On these waters I have never encountered a storm this size, and now in this place where my own strength has always been sufficient, it isn't sufficient any more.
Can I just say as Christians, in places where we are self-reliant, Christ is going to send storms and cause us to realize, My strength isn't adequate anymore. In this place where my own strength was able to stand and perform, a storm has swept in and I have suddenly found myself in such a place of weakness. If God doesn't meet me with supernatural strength, I am going under.
I know this can sound scary, but here is the good news: We may feel like we are going under, but the storm is actually producing transformation in our lives. It is transforming us from self-sufficient to supernatural. In other words, in places where we have always been self-sufficient, now we are going to walk in something so much greater, supernatural strength and power.
So now I need to ask a question
In places where my strength has always been sufficient, why must I walk in supernatural strength and power even in these places? Because our lives are called to make an eternal impact upon people, an impact that is going to produce something of eternal value in their lives. We cannot do that in our own strength.
2 examples:
If you are a little league baseball coach, your human strength is powerless to make an eternal impact upon the lives of these children. You may teach them good baseball skills, but to make an eternal impact, that takes the supernatural. Therefore, we must leave self-sufficiency and move into the supernatural.
If you work a 9 to 5 job, your strength is powerless to make an eternal impact upon the people around you. Therefore, you need to move out of the realm of self-sufficiency and into the realm of supernatural strength. It is not about doing your job well anymore, though that is important, but it is about eternally impacting people who share the job place with you.
So, God sends storms into our places of self-sufficiency to cause us to realize, My self-sufficiency in this area of my life is powerless. I need to be walking in supernatural strength and power.
Let's ask this question: when the disciples were in the boat, what happened when the storm came? Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water. In other words, the storm did its job. If there had been no storm, Peter would have never saw his need to get out of the boat and walk in the supernatural strength of the Lord. It is when the storm invades our lives in those places where we are self-sufficient that we are ready to abandon self-sufficiency and walk in supernatural strength.
So let's conclude with a question: Right now, is there a place in your life where your strength and abilities were always sufficient, but you have suddenly found yourself in a place of great weakness? Your strength and abilities are not adequate anymore? Take heart! It is because God is bringing you from "self-sufficiency to the supernatural" in this area of your life. You are called to make an eternal impact and it is only when you are walking in supernatural strength that this happens.
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