How God Can Use People to Accomplish His Will

We know quite well that God uses people all the time for His will and building His Kingdom. This morning’s passage features three women who are used by God to give the baby who would someday become the man who delivers the people of Israel safety. In the moment, these ladies were simply doing what they thought was best given the circumstances and had no idea who Moses would someday be.

The things that are done in these verses are God orchestrating situations so that the three, imperfect women we are told about, are able to accomplish the will of God. This morning I want to look at how God uses people to accomplish His will.

First, in verses 1 and 2, God uses people to

To Preserve

We will talk more about the qualifications of Moses as a leader and being a Levite at a later point. For now, Moses’ mother conceives a child, gives girth to him, and then hides him for three months. Knowing what we learned in the first chapter of Exodus make it easy for us understand why she hides the baby. She knows that he would be in danger if he wasn’t hidden from the Egyptians.

The idea here is that she greatly loved this child like any mother would do and does her very best to care for him. The idea of preserving is to maintain and in this case she desires to maintain his life.

In our lives, I believe God uses us to preserve people. It is impossible to know who in our lives is in need of encouragement. They might be experiencing something in their lives that we have been through ourselves and so the Lord will use that experience

He also uses us to preserve His church. Matthew 16:18 we are reminded that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Christ but God still uses us to assist in making progress for His kingdom. I’ve often said that it is baffling that God would use imperfect people like us to advance His Kingdom, and yet we work to spread the gospel. We work to defend the bible and the truths that are in it.

Finally, He uses us to preserve relationships. This happens in a variety of ways in a variety of relationships. We preserve relationships with the lost friends, family, and neighbors we have in hopes that they might come to faith. We preserve relationships with those who God has sent our way to be mentors in the faith as well as those who are younger in the faith and in need of discipling.

In this case, Moses’ mother preserves him so that he might one day lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Next we see that God uses people

To Protect

In verses 3 and 4 we learn that Moses’ mother can no longer can no longer hide him so she builds a basket. The Hebrew word that is used for basket here is the same word that is used to describe the ark that Noah and his family built and boarded. The point is that this is a vessel of protection. There are great lengths that Moses’ mother takes to secure this basket, being sure that it is waterproof on the bottom. Beyond that, Moses’ sister is sent to look after the baby and see what would be done with him. While she is watching from a distance, it is clear that she is keeping close eye that danger will not come to the baby but also determining where Moses ends up.

There are two areas where God uses us to protect. The first in a physical way. There are real dangers in the world and God can use us in a variety of ways to protect ourselves and others.

Illustration about just missing a car wreck

The second way that we can be used for protection is spiritually. We are in deep need of protection from sin. The evil one is consistently trying to find ways to tempt us to sin against God. We ought to keep this in mind both in our own lives as well as the lives of brothers and sisters who are around us.

Third, we see in verses 5 through 8 that God can use people

In specific positions

There are two women who are involved in these four verses and their position in life works to ensure that Moses is well taken care of. First, the daughter of Pharaoh is in a position of power. This is a very important part of the story because Moses seems to follow in the footsteps of Joseph in being in the influence of the king. As we’ve read this morning in verse 10, Moses is raised by Pharaoh’s daughter which means he is afforded all of the luxuries of belonging to the royal family. He is highly educated, has access to the finest foods, and more than likely sits in on some of the meetings the king conducts with his inner court.

Because Moses’ sister was nearby watching, she offers up her services to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child from this early age. It is because she is in this position of opportunity, that she is able to bring Moses back to their mother during these early years.

There are times where God places us in positions of power and opportunity in order to do His bidding. We may not recognize these opportunities at the time, but when we commit ourselves to His will, there are amazing things that the Lord can do through us.

Finally, we notice in verses 9 and 10 that God can use people

To Provide

Finally, Moses’ mother is able to provide care for her son during these early years and is also paid for the service that she provides. It would be easy to focus solely on the provision for Moses here but we shouldn’t look past the blessing for Moses’ mother to have her son during these early years. Certainly Moses was provided for but there is an emotional provision here that takes place for his mother as well.

We have the opportunity to provide for others in three ways that I want to highlight. First, in physical ways. Whether it is providing food, protection, or shelter, there are physical needs that we will have the opportunity to act on behalf of the Lord in order to aid others.

The second way we can do the Lord’s will by providing is in spiritual guidance. There are areas of the bible that we might have read more thoroughly than others have and be able to speak into their lives based on that. God is able to use a little encouraging word in our lives without us ever knowing. This takes place in discipleship as well.

Finally, we provide the gospel to the ones who have not yet believed. We act as a vessel. It is not our winning to the Lord but faithful sharing of the truth that we believe in.

God uses His people to

To Preserve

To Protect

In Specific positions

To Provide

All to accomplish His will.