Exodus 2x10-15 - Doing God's Will God's Way
Thomas S. Myers
DOING GOD'S WILL GOD'S WAY
Exodus 2:10-15
Having just graduated from college the former student wanted to take a summer break by getting away from all the pressures before entering his new job. His choice was to hike throughout Alaska. After hiking several day's, he came across a cabin in the remote forest. The resident of the cabin was an elderly mountain man who had lived in the cabin for years. He was invited in for dinner. One look at the dishes revealed that the dishes had not been washed. Food was still crusted on the plates. The old mountain man seeing the college graduates hesitation said, "That is the best cold water can do out here son." The college student was hungry and it had been days since he had eaten a home cooked meal and not wanting to offend the mountain man he ate off the dirty plate. After the meal was over the college student offered to wash the dishes, but the elderly mountain man refused his help saying, "No, cold water will take care of the dishes." The mountain man then gathered up the dishes, opened the front door to the cabin, and whistling said, "Here cold water, come on boy." He then placed all the dishes on the ground and the mountain man's dog, named cold water licked the dishes.
Things are not always as they appear to be. Moses was convinced it was God's will for him to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. And he was convinced that it had to be done his way. It is one thing to know the will of God, but it is an entirely another thing to do the will of God your own way. We are going to look at the life of Moses as he attempted to do God's will his way. One thing that I want you to see in Moses is that he was highly qualified. Look at ACTS 7:22:
122 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Do you see the word "powerful" in the New International Version, ("mighty" in the King James Version)? The Greek word is dunamai, from which we get our word dynamite. Meaning this, Moses was very powerful in communication and action. He was an incredible debater and a military hero. A historian tells us that Moses led the Egyptian Army in numerous military campaigns, and he was always victorious. Moses had all the ability, all the intellect, and he had all the education. He was highly qualified, but he was entirely useless when it came to doing God's will, God's way. Look at:
ACTS 7:23-29
23 "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.
Moses, in attempting to do God's will, kills an Egyptian. That is Moses' way of doing God's will. He just bulls his way through. After all Moses thinks, I am the champion of Egypt. I'm a hero. I can do no wrong. So he just kills the Egyptian. Now he is trying to do God's will, his way. So many sincere Christians try to do God's will their way. I have seen where some will sincerely hold back their tithe for their own purposes, thinking that they are sincerely doing God's will, but they are sincerely wrong. Others will spread rumors discrediting someone so they can accomplish their own purposes.
While a seminary student, Bob Campbell accepted a special favor from his supervisor. If he did a little construction work on his supervisor's house, instead of the work project, he could take the next day off with pay. Bob could use an extra day to study Greek and Hebrew for the seminary, so he accepted the offer. He was enjoying the free day studying when the phone rang. It was the owner of the construction crew, wanting to know why he wasn't at work. Bob Campbell had stettled in that he was doing God's will by having a day studying the Bible, while in fact he was doing God's will his own way. When we attempt to do God's will our own way, it always backfires. Look at Acts 7:25:
25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, `Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' 27 "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, `Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian.
Look at EXODUS 2:15 to get a good look at Moses.
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
Here is Moses, the champion of Egypt sitting in the sand, by a well, as a murderer. To get a good picture of what Moses is feeling as he sits by the well, imagine being highly successful and losing everything. Or imagine being happily married, but one day as you are at work, you are served divorce papers. Those of you who have been there, know that when you are by the well, it is a lonely place. You can not imagine it, unless you have been there. The question most often asked is, by people who are by the well is, "How did it happen?" You don't have to do anything wrong to loose your business, all your prophets can be embezzled, or you can be swindled by a shady business partner. In Moses' case, he sits by the well, it is not by the actions of others, but attempting to do God's will his own way. I was listening to David Jeremiah's radio program and he told the story of a very successful businessman. He said that the businessman was a Christian. And David Jeremiah believed that he was. He had done a great deal of good work for the Lord. He had founded ministries and funded them with his own money. He was well known in his community. He had a wife and a family. From all outward impressions, he was a model of a godly Christian businessman. But financial difficulties took over his empire. And as hard as it was for David Jeremiah to believe, the man conspired with two underworld characters to force his wife off the road and shoot his wife in the head. The police suggested that he was involved in the brutal murder. All the evidence pointed towards him. The week before, he had taken out a very large insurance policy on his wife. His own testimony was filled with inconsistency and holes. Today, he is serving time for the murder of his wife. Some would say he couldn't be a Christian and do something life that. I'm not telling the story to debate whether he knows the Lord. I'm just illustrating the story that even a person who seems to know the Lord can stray from the will of God. How does it happen? How did it happen to Moses? How does it happen to us?
FIRST -- IT HAPPENS WHEN WE TRY TO DO GOD'S WILL IN OUR OWN WISDOM AND STRENGTH.
Look at EXODUS 2:12 at Moses' actions just before killing the Egyptian.
12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (NIV)
Moses never looked up. There is not a word of prayer. There is not a mention of a counsel with God. Do you know why? Moses is bright. He has already proven his ability in the class room and the battlefield. So when it comes to being the deliverer Moses, thinks, "I can handle that too."
I can not remember who it was that shared a vital principle with me, but I wrote it down several years ago. Let me share it with you. "We ought to go to the private place with God, before we go to the public place for God." I have found that is true. A.J. was trying to move a large rock in our back yard. He was pushing it with all his might. His feet were dug into the ground, he was pushing the rock with his hands. There where little beads of sweat on his forehead. As I watched him, he was gaining no headway with the rock. So I asked him, "A.J., are you using all your strength?" He said, "Yes, daddy." I said, "No you're not, you haven't asked me to help." So often, that is how it is with us. We will use all of our strength, all of our own wisdom, but not ask for God's help. Many times we fail as we attempt to do God's will in our own wisdom and strength.
SECOND -- MANY TIMES WE WILL FAIL, BECAUSE WE TRY TO HIDE OUR SIN.
EXODUS 2:12
12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The world thinks that if we want to be successful, and have blown it, we are to hide our failures. God says we want to be successful we are to confess it. Moses hid the body of the Egyptian he had slain. We love to cover up our sin, don't we? How many here have ever tried to cover up their sin?
Do you remember what Adam and Eve were doing after they sinned? They were hiding. Do you remember when Cain killed his brother Abel? What was the first thing that Cain did? He hid the body of Abel?
I have a couple of excuses that people gave for auto accidents. One has to do with a driver who hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk. They asked him, "How is it that you ended up hitting the man?" The driver said, "The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I could hit him." Here is the testimony of a driver who hit a telephone pole. He said, "The telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of it's path when it struck my front end." It is amazing what
we will say, what we will do, to cover up our wrongs. You know I believe that Moses was very sincere, and so were those folks who gave excuses for accidents. But the problem is they are trying to hide their sin. They are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. Up to this very moment Moses has been a success. He has been the champion of Egypt. But now his whole world comes crashing all around him.
EXODUS 2:13-15
13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?" 14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known." 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. (NIV)
I believe there are at least 2 results when we fail in trying to serve God.
1ST -- IT CAN MOVE YOU to FEAR.
EXODUS 2:14 "Moses was afraid"
Moses runs for his life. I have seen that in Christians. They will attempt serve God in their own strength and blow it. The result is they will run in fear. I have seen it in pastors, and missionaries.
I know of one former pastor who was hurt so badly that he left the ministry. He personally told me that he would never, ever seek being a pastor of any church. He had no desire to be hurt so deeply again. The fear of being hurt will drive you away from serving God. Velva and I know of one missionary couple who raised their support. They got to their field assignment and after being on the filed for only 3 months were told to pack up and return to the States. They had a fear of germs.
Let me give some statistics on fear. It is reported that Ann Landers receives an average of 10,000 letters each month. When asked what is the most prominate problem in the letters she said, "Fear."
It was said, that Stalin was so driven by fear that he had 8 bedrooms which could be locked up like a safety deposit box in a bank. It is reported that no one ever knew which bedroom he would sleep in.
Perhaps you heard about the Japanese soldier who did not surrender after WWII. He lived in a cave for 28 years in hiding. He ate frogs, rats and snails. When the islanders found him sick, they took him to a hospital. When someone asked him if he knew the war was over, he said yes. When asked why then didn't he come out of hiding he said, "I was afraid." Moses is now running in fear.
2ND -- IT CAN KEEP YOU FROM SERVING GOD. EXODUS 3:10
10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" (NIV)
When you come to Exodus 3:10, forty years have passed since Moses was by the well. And he still has withdrawals from serving God. When you fail, the tendency will be to retreat, to crawl up into a shell and to say, "I'm through, I'm not going to serve God again." You will convince yourself that you will never serve God again. The tendency will be to focus in on the failure and criticism. And you will say no to every opportunity of service. Turn to I CORINTHIANS 6:11 Ray Steadman, former Pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, Calif. was preaching on I Corinthians 6:9-11.
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God. (NIV)
He asked his congregation, "If that was true of your life, would you please stand?" Over half of the church stood up. What we need to realize is that God specializes in using failures. Focus in on that. Don't focus in on your past. Don't focus on the murder in Egypt. Don't focus on your failures.
There is a young lady who was raised in a broken home. Uninterested in High School, she fled to Las Vegas. She became a call girl. For several years she lived as a prostitute. While on the streets someone shared the gospel with her and she came to know Jesus Christ as her savior. She moved to another town, fell in love and told her boyfriend about her past. His response was, "You're forgiven through Jesus Christ, and I forgive you." They were married and eventually God called them into the ministry. They went to seminary and today they have a very successful ministry.
I don't care how soiled your past has been, you are cleansed. It is time that you realize that God can handle all the Egypt's of your life. When you come back into service for God, keep in mind that it is God whom you are serving and it is God whome you're to please.
Rudolph was a young musician is Vienna with a burning desire to write a symphony. Finally the time came when he was able to do so. After writing and rewriting it many times, he showed the score to some friends and asked for their opinion. Without exception, they agreed it was an excellent work. He was ready to present it to the public. The orchestra performed his symphony beautifully. After the last movement ended, the audience broke out into thunderous applause. Rudolph, however, seemed unmoved until an old white-haired man approached him. Placing his hands on the young man's shoulders, he exclaimed, "Well done, Rudolph!" Only then did the young musician smile with satisfaction. He had received approval from the one he wanted most to please, his respected mentor. That is how we should view our work, as service to our master. It is the Master's approval that really counts!