Find Yourself In God

Play the Lion King Scene. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEi3Nn1Ftx8) End at 2:20

So much of our behavior and how we respond to circumstances is dictated by who we perceive ourselves to be.

But how do we know who we are?

The culture tells us that everything we need to know about who we are can be found by looking inside ourselves.

Study your impulses and urges

Study your leanings and preferences

If it feels good, do it.

If it seems right, be it.

We live in a society that tells us that it is somehow oppressive to suggest that our identity can be formed and spoken into by anything or anyone outside ourselves

There is for sure, a legacy of oppression and forced conformity in Western society that needs to be confronted…

A man-made, white, male standardization that has been to quick to otherize and ostracize anyone who does not fit the mold.

But, as a culture we have replaced this oppression of an equally unhelpful idolatry of self.

As people and institutions move through life, there are times when we need to reimagine ourselves and understand who we are in a given season.

The culture will tell us, in that moment, to look within.

But, I want to suggest to us this morning that we first look to The Lord

In our text, Moses models this process of divine self-discovery.

I want to preach a from Moses’ experience in Midian

The title of the sermons is “Find Yourself In The Lord”

PRAYER

Don’t Get Lost In Your Situation Find Yourself In The Lord’s Purpose

Moses ran to Midian

Midian was an Ishmaelite tribe

It had been Midianites who sold Joseph into slavery.

Why would Moses run to Midian?

Was he feeling guilty and looking to be put in chains?

Was he feeling hopeful and looking for a way back to Egypt?

From the text we do not know.

Whatever his take on His situation, when these 7 shepherdesses are harassed by this pack of hooligans, Moses springs to their defense.

Someone might look at this narrative and see “Moses the deliverer” doing his deliverer thing.

But again, that is probably reading more into the text than we can actually know from the text.

I don’t think this narrative suggest that Moses reacted out of some kind of deep self-knowledge.

We want that because we enjoy the “know your purpose” vibe

And I’m with knowing your purpose and understanding yourself

But the only way you are going to discover YOUR PURPOSE is by first committing to GOD’S PURPOSE

I don’t think we see in the narrative a man who fancies himself a great deliverer, and so he’s going to deliver these women.

I think we see a man trying to do the right thing.

Beloved, you cannot go wrong doing the right thing.

Listen, whatever the situations and circumstances of your life right now, the best way to begin to find yourself and the path God has for you is to begin to ask yourself a question that was popularized in the 90s: WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

What purpose might God desire to accomplish

In this moment…?

At this job…?

In this relationship…?

Through this church…?

Don’t Get Lost In Your Struggle. Find Yourself In The Lord’s Presence.

So Moses marries one of the daughters of the Priest of Midian.

And he settles among the Midianites.

And he becomes a shepherd to the Midianite flock.

And the way I read it, Moses became comfortable with a Midianite existence.

Now, the Midianites were the descendants Ishmael

Who strove with Jacob in the womb

The Midianites sold Joseph as a slave

The very word Midian means “struggle”

Moses who had surely learned about this God who made a covenant with Abraham, and loved Issac, and protected Jacob.

But, Moses never looks for God.

Instead he settles into Midian…into a rhythm of shepherding struggle

Moses is “just hanging in there”

Moses is “just getting by”

Moses is “another day, another dollar”

Moses is “it is what it is”

But what I like about it is that even though Moses does not go looking for God, one day God goes looking for Moses.

God shows up way out on the back side of the wilderness and manifests Himself a bush burning, but not consumed.

And I love what the text says in Exodus 3:4: “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush”

Beloved, you might be in a wilderness season of your life:

No vision. No excitement. Little joy.

Maybe you are just going along to get along.

Can I encourage you this morning that what you need to do is spend some time in the presence of The Lord!

In His presence, there is fullness of joy. And at His right hand there are pleasures forever more.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their shall renew their strength

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

You need to have a meeting with Jesus.

And even if you don’t have the presence of mind to go and look for God. Can I ask you this question: how are going to respond when God comes looking for you?

Will you be too busy shepherding struggle to turn aside and see what God might have for your life?

If you hate your job, and it barely pays you enough money to get by…why would you skip corporate prayer so that you can take an extra shift?

You’re feeling down in the dumps…and you don’t feel like calling anybody to get some encouragement. Cool. But, what about when that sister or that brother calls you or texts you? Are you so busy nursing your negative emotions that you won’t even pick up the phone or respond to the text?

In this Relaunch campaign, there will be struggle.

Some things won’t go right.

Some things won’t go the way you want them to go.

Some things won’t go at all.

BELOVED WHEN WE ENCOUNTER THOSE MOMENTS, REMEMBER THAT THE SOLUTION WILL NOT BE FOUND EITHER IN A COMMITTEE MEETING OR ON A GOSSIPING PHONE CALL

The solutions will be found as lay on our faces before the Lord

And as we stand with hands lifted up in His presence

Don’t Get Lost In Your Shortcomings. Find Yourself In God’s Power.

There at the burning bush, God gives Moses a command to go and do the very thing that it seems he always wanted to do.

And Moses begins to rattle off all the reasons why he is unable to do it.

Moses produces some of the most common thoughts of a human psyche on the road to self-sabotage.

I’m not worthy

I don’t know enough

I’m not connected enough

I don’t have the right skills

God does not respond to Moses' shortcomings with the self-centered “positive thinking” that gets peddled in our times. God’s responses are focused on God, not Moses”.

The presence of God “I will be with you”

The name of God “I AM”

The miracles of God

The children of God

Do you see it?

Moses says, “I’m not worthy”. Go says, “But, I am with you”.

Moses says, I don’t know enough. God says, “But, now you know Me…and that’s enough.”

I’m not connected…My grace will make room for you.

I don’t have the right skills…I will send you the right team.

Beloved, you may have noticed a pattern here. As we go through this process of self-discovery:

We find ourselves in The Lord’s Purpose

We find ourselves in The Lord’s Presence

We find ourselves in The Lord’s Power

The key to WHO we are is WHOSE we are.

In Him we live and move and have our being! (Act 17:28)

His word is a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path! (Psalm 119:105)

He will be a voice behind us saying “this is the way, walk in it”. (Isaiah 30:21)

As we pursue this church Relaunch,

The key to our success will not be how closely we model after all the other fellowships around us…

The key to our success will not be how well we understand the data and the trends…

The key to our success will not be in how clever and creative we can be or how well we plan and manage processes.

All these things are important, but the key to our success in this Relaunch will be found in how near we draw to The Lord in this season.

And the same can be said for your personal life. There are many in this fellowship who are ready for a personal Relaunch…

You need to discovery in a fresh way the answer to the question: “WHO AM I”

Beloved, I came today to tell you that you can find yourself in The Lord

If you have never made the decision to trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then you have not settled the question of WHOSE you are.

Jesus has come…He lived and died…He was buried…and He rose to life again on the third day.

He ascended into heaven and He will come again.

He has brought salvation so close to you, but you have to accept it.

I promise you that trusting Jesus will radically transform your identity.

The scripture says “If any person be in Christ, then that person is a new creation. Old things have passed away. All things are made new”.

If you want this transformative work to take place in your life, today is the day.

Maybe you have already trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior. But, you find yourself in a season where you need a fresh revelation of who you are in God.

A fresh revelation of who you are begins with a fresh revelation of who He is.

And I can tell you who the scripture says He is…He is faithful.

The one who began the good work in you is faithful to complete it.

THE KEY IS TO STOP LOOKING FOR YOU AND START LOOKING FOR HIM.

There is a lot of work that has to be done to successfully complete the Relaunch of this fellowship…and some of that work is already underway.

But, here’s my prayer

I don’t want to look back on this Relaunch and say “we did a lot of work and we did it well”.

I want to look back on this Relaunch and say “WE WENT HARD AFTER GOD AND WE DISCOVERED AN AMAZING FELLOWSHIP IN THE PROCESS”

So, here’s the commitment I am asking us to make. Let’s go hard after Jesus in the Relaunch…

In prayer

In worship

In love for the one another

If you’re ready to say yes to that, stand with me. And let’s make this declaration over our Relaunch.

We will not get lost in situations…We Find Ourselves In The Lord’s Purpose.

We will not get lost in our struggles…We will find ourselves in The Lord’s Presence.

‌We will not get lost in our shortcomings…We will find ourselves in The Lord’s Power.