Beyong Belief Week 1

[INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first week of our new series, Beyond Belief, in which we'll look at Moses' life and an epic showdown between good and evil!

Have you ever had the experience of suddenly not performing well at something you've typically done really well at? If you've ever felt this way, you're not alone. Simone Biles, one of the most legendary Olympic gymnasts in history, experienced something similar.

Simone Biles' withdrew from the Olympics because of a phenomenon known as the "twisties."

Even though Simone has been a gymnast for nearly her whole life, she still got the "twisties.”

Even though her muscle memory knew what to do, her brain was telling her something completely different, making her doubt herself. And doubting your ability to land a crazy flip off the uneven bars is dangerous. So, it makes sense that she prioritized her safety and opted out of her events for the next few days.

We may not personally know the intensity of getting the "twisties" at a moment like that, but in our own ways, we all can feel like Simone.

Most of us have been derailed by unexpected or undesired self-doubt at some point, and that's not fun.

Maybe your doubt has gone beyond how you see yourself, and you think maybe God sees you as unqualified too.

Maybe you feel useless. Or maybe you think questions, insecurities, doubts, mistakes, or something that has happened in your life has sidelined you forever.

If you relate to any of that, you're in good company because that's exactly how Moses felt, yet God used him in some truly extraordinary ways.

[TRANSITION]

At the end of the book of Genesis, God's people were in a favorable position. Later, when a new king noticed how God's people have grown in number, he worried that if a war broke out, they would join the opposition, and he would be outnumbered. So he enslaved them, forcing them to do backbreaking work to prevent them from rising against him.

Moses was born into this community of God's people as they were experiencing the height of this oppression. However, Moses' mom wished for him to have a better life. So, she placed him in a basket and floated him down the river, hoping someone would be able to provide him with the life he deserved. God answered her prayer and guided the basket to Pharaoh's daughter, who took him in as her own and raised him well.

After he grew up, Moses witnessed an Egyptian man beating up one a slave. Overcome with rage and anger, Moses attacked the Egyptian, killed him, and buried the body to hide what he had done. Eventually, news of this attack reached Pharaoh, and Moses was forced to flee.

While in hiding, Moses was weighed down with the shame of killing someone and leaving his still-enslaved friends and family back in Egypt, but then God called out to Moses...

Exodus 3:1–10 (CSB)

1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

God's people were still enslaved and experiencing severe injustice and pain. However, God had promised Moses' ancestors that they would be a people great in number who would bless the world.

God was deeply invested in the people of Israel and was moved by their cries. God called out to Moses through a burning bush for him to lead his people out of Pharaoh's captivity.

Moses was told that God had witnessed their abuse and would rescue them from their situation. So, Moses was charged with leading God's people out of slavery and into freedom — out of oppression and injustice in Egypt and into a place they could worship their God.

[TRANISITION]

Exodus 3:11–15 (CSB)

11 But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

Moses tried to convince God he wasn't the man for the job. He told God he wasn't smart enough or persuasive enough with his words to convince Pharaoh to let God's people go. Moses was terrified to confront Pharaoh because he lacked confidence in himself.

Moses protested, but God promised to be with Moses every step of the way.

God assured Moses when he doubted himself. God wasn't mad about Moses' past or insecurities.

At the burning bush, we see Moses doubt his own skills and talents, but that didn't disqualify him from being used by God, and we see God's desire to use Moses and God's ability to work despite Moses' deficiencies.

Being used by God does not require an entrance exam, a driver's license, a resume, or a high GPA. God asks us to simply say yes and promises to be with us through it all.

Notice that God doesn't say, "Before I use you, I need your doubts about me to be gone." God says, "I want to use you, and I have your back no matter what."

God doesn't scoff at our past or minimize our feelings about ourselves. God longs for us to say yes even if we're in the middle of doubt, failure, or hurt because those things don't change the fact that God wants to use us to do amazing things. And as we will see later in the story, Moses' doubts didn't stop God from accomplishing God's plans through Moses.

[TRANSITION]

Just like Moses, two of Jesus' followers, Phillip and Thomas, had doubts too.

They had a hard time believing they could continue to live out and do the things Jesus was teaching and doing, especially after he left them.

They were trying to learn to trust that God would still use and lead them even when they doubted or were uncertain about the future. Look at how Jesus encouraged them as they expressed their concerns to him.

John 14:12 (CSB)

12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

In their doubt, Jesus called them to believe in and follow him.

The same is true of us. Jesus calls us to be an example for others and to stay strong in our faith. Just like God promised Moses, we can trust Jesus' presence will always be with us.

Trusting in the presence of Jesus in our lives is a powerful way to push past your mistakes, failures, sins, and doubts. He invites us to see that when you doubt yourself, God can still use you.

[CONCLUSION]

God is with you and wants to use you no matter where you are in your faith.

Maybe you're good with people or at math.

Maybe you're highly organized.

Maybe you're empathetic and funny.

Maybe you're good at encouraging others.

Whatever gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you, let's spend some time looking at how God may want to use you.

Look at how we are connected and can continue encouraging each other as God equips and leads us to do God's work. When you doubt yourself, God can still use you.