When Life Doesn't Make Sence

Thomas S. Myers

When Life Doesn't Make Sense

Exodus 2:15-25

            At time's life does not make any sense.  Many times there is no explanation, no under- standing as to why this crisis or why that crisis.  But at times, God pulls back the curtains of his sovereign plan, and He allows us to see why we are in a crisis.  Such is the case as we look at the life of Moses.  Moses once lived in a palace, but now he lives in a desert.  Moses once was a ruler and a leader of men, but now he is a leader and ruler of sheep.  He has no idea that God was preparing him for an even greater ministry.  We are going to pull back the curtains of heaven, and we are going to see how God used Moses' desert experience as preparation for incredible service.  I do not know why you may be going through a crisis, but for Moses it was preparation for being used greatly by God.     

            Alan Redpath while pastor of Moody Memorial Church said, "When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes them."  Everything I have to say today as it relates to the life of Moses has to do with that statement.  Many of us are impossible kinds of people.  And until we are divinely crushed, until we are broken to the place of submission of God's will, God will not use us in that particular manner for which he has called us. 

            A. W. Tozer put it another way, "It is doubtful that God can use anyone greatly until He has hurt them deeply."  There are times when God has allowed deep and severe trials.  And

1when you are in those trials you will wonder

about the justice of God.  There will be times when God will kick the crutches out from under you.  There will be times when God will take

away your comforts and removes your rights.  And you will wonder why?  It may be that in God's great plan He wants to use you in a great way.  In the life of Moses that is exactly God's intention.  God is going to crush Moses.  Today we will experience the brokenness of being crushed.  When you are divinely crushed, when you are in the desert, you will learn at least 3 things. 

FIRST -- YOU WILL LEARN THE  POSITION OF A ___________.  

Look at:          Exodus 2:15-17  

Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.  16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock.  17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. (NIV)

            Can you get the picture of what is going on in Exodus 2:15-17?  Moses is siting by a well, and 7 young ladies approach the well, attempting to water their sheep.  But before they can provide the needed water, they are driven away.  The Hebrew words "DROVE THEM AWAY" is one very intensive Hebrew verb.  It means to use excessive force.  So Moses comes to their rescue and forces the shepherds away and even waters their flock.  Moses has no idea who the ladies are.  But he knows what it is like to lose everything.  When you are divinely crushed, it is amazing how it will pull your spirit towards others who are in need.   I have seen it in those who have experienced cancer, the loss of a loved one, or those who have been severely injured.  Those who have gone through the fire have an incredible compassion and desire to help those who are in affliction.  God has equipped them to minister to you.

            Would you look at:  2 Corinthians 1:3-4

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (NIV)

            Notice from verse 4, that the comfort you receive when you are in the desert.  God has opened the door for you to apply your comfort to others.  It is remarkable what a shepherd's heart God can give people who have suffered.  Moses has no idea who these 7 young ladies are.  But he has an incredible compassion for them.  I guarantee you that when you are crushed, you will learn to be sensitive to the pain of others.  You will understand what it means to be taken advantage of, ripped off, broken or misused.   When you have walked through the fire, you will then understand that it was God's great plan for your life.  You will come to see that it's part of your healing ministry.  Look at

Deuteronomy 32:10-12 and take a close look at the verbs. 

10In a desert land GOD found him, in a barren and howling waste. GOD shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11  like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. 12  The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. (NIV)

            Verse 11 describes what it is like to be in the desert, to be crushed.  It is a picture of an eagle who forces its young out of the nest.  The little eaglet falls helplessly towards the ground.  You can imagine the poor little eaglet falling head over heels, desperately flapping its wings and frankly calling out to its mother for help.  The eagle then sweeps down and spreads her incredible wings and catches her young and carries her young to great heights.  Do you know what the mother is trying to do?  She is trying to teach her young how to fly, so it will soar to new heights.  There will be times you feel as if you are falling, and you will be convinced that God has abandoned you, and you will cry out for God's help, but it will seem like he is silent.  You will wonder, what is God doing?  He is teaching you the position of a servant.  He is preparing you to soar to new heights so you can minister to other in a great way.

            So Moses learns the position of a servant and he ministers to the ladies.  There is a 2nd thing you will learn when you are in a crisis, or in a desert.

SECOND -- YOU WILL LEARN THE _____  OF OBSCURITY. 

            You will learn what it is like to be alone.  I want you to see Moses' job description for 40 years. 

Exodus 2:21-23

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.  22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land." 

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. (NIV)

            Verse 23 begins with monotony.  It says, "During that long period..."  You can feel the incredible day after day of never changing monotony.  The King James translates it this way:  "And it came to pass in the process of time..."  The New American Standard translates it:  "It came about in the course of those many days..."  Life as Moses knew it has come to a slow, sluggish pace.  When you are in the desert, you will feel all alone.  Now remember, Moses is the hero of Egypt.  He was use to action.  He was use to a quick pace.  He was as the Bible says in Acts 7:22

22 Moses was  powerful in speech and action. (NIV)

            But life now has come to a grinding stop.  

            I remember when Velva and I moved from Portland, Oregon to Emmett, Idaho.  The population of Emmett is 4,700.  Shortly after moving there we soon learned that the main activity was driving up to the bakery and watching the dough rise.  I mean the pace was slow and it took some adjustment.  Well, Moses is now at a 40 year rest stop.  For 40 years he has been in a desert.  When you are being crushed there is an aloneness that you can not imagine. 

             I heard of a man who was deeply crushed with cutting remarks from his own church.  He said to his wife, "I don't want to go to that church any more.  People aren't friendly there.  They don't speak to me.  They walk away from me.  I just don't want to go there ever again."  His wife said, "You ought to go."  He replied, "But I don't want to go."  She said, "You need to go."  He said, "But I don't want to.  Why should I go?"  She said, "You're a member of the church, and after all, you're the pastor." 

            When you have been hurt deeply, you will feel so alone.  We are not use to being alone.  We're use to a rapid pace.  But not in God's classroom.  When you are in God's classroom, when God is preparing you for a future ministry, life comes to a grinding stop.  You have heard the American prayer, "Lord, I want patience and I want it now!"  For 40 years Moses has been in the desert.  This is the pharaoh elect.  He is highly qualified in science, math, and in public speaking.  And now the he can only speak to sheep.  When you are divinely crushed, you will learn to be still. 

THIRD --  YOU WILL LEARN THE ______________ OF GOD. 

Exodus 2:24-25

24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.  25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. (NIV)

            Notice it says in verse 24 and 25, "GOD HEARD, GOD REMEMBERED, GOD LOOKED", and "GOD WAS CONCERNED."  No matter what your crisis, God has not forgotten you.  "GOD HEARD", the Hebrew word means to listen intently.  God hears your groaning.  Verse 24 says, "GOD REMEMBERED", the Hebrew word means to write it down.  God has your cry for help written down, it will not be forgotten.  Then it says, "GOD LOOKED," the Hebrew word means to look after.  God is looking after your need.  Then it says, "GOD WAS CONCERNED," the Hebrew word means to know by personal experience.  God knows personally the crisis you are in because he has experienced the same pain.  You can not escape that God is personally acquainted with your crisis.  Look at:

Psalm 139:9-10

9  If I rise on the wings of the dawn..., 0  even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (NIV)

            What does that mean?  It means even if you could travel the speed of light, you still could not flee the presence of God.  If you could travel the speed of light, at 186,000 miles per second, you would be at the moon in 11/3 seconds.  You would be at the closest star in 4 years.  What is God telling you?  He is telling you that you can not flee His presence.  But when you are in the desert you will question that God is even there.  You will forget that God hears your groaning.  And yet, you are precisely where God wants you to be.  God is preparing you for greater service by chipping off the rough edges.

            In Florence, Italy there is an 8 foot, white marble statue of David by Michelangelo.  He was working for the religious leaders of the church.  They had at great expense purchased that large block of marble and they became very disturbed that Michelangelo was chipping away so many pieces.  He was approached by one the leading religious figures who rebuked him for chipping away so much.  Michelangelo replied, "As the chips fall away, a perfect image emerges." 

            That's us as we are in the desert.  Your chips are falling away and the image of Christ is emerging.  When life doesn't make any sense, don't hurry the process.  It takes time to do a good piece of sculpture. 

FIRST:  SERVANT

SECOND:  PAIN

THIRD:  PRESENCE