Taking Control

We begin a new series this evening called “Out of the Wilderness” and I believe it is very timely for where we find ourselves as a culture in such a time as this. God laid this on my heart several weeks ago to move this direction and I believe His Spirit is going to move!

To begin I want to set up the foundation for the series. What is “the wilderness?” We hear the term throughout scripture and it is a term we use even today, but I want to clarify what it means in the sermon series.

Wilderness is not a very positive term when seen in the Word.

Today we would use it to express a time spent outdoors. But such is not the case when it comes to its use in scripture.

Wilderness is land not suited for farming. Wilderness is too dry, too rough, too rocky to be cultivated. It is land only good for grazing.

Occasionally the word wilderness was used in the Bible to describe desert locations. We see this form of use in the New Testament.

The overwhelming idea behind the use of the word is land that is not suited for life or for growth. The resources were limited and the ability cultivate was slim to none.

The wilderness was not a place known for life.

It was a trying place. A place of bareness (in desert situations). A place of desperation in many cases. But the amazing thing about the wilderness is, God can use it as a place of turn around. God can take what appears to be a barren situation… and cultivate new life.

Consider what the wilderness was, rocky, rough, dry ground. Could such a description be used to describe our spiritual condition at times? Could the hardened hearts of people be described as unworkable territory?

We can post a sign on the edge of our heart advertising it to be a lush, growing, full of life place, but what truly lies within is scarred, scorched, rocky terrain that has lost its ability to cultivate new life.

But again, never forget that God is able to take such situations and turn them around. He is able to take our brokenness and cultivate new life.

Jesus’ blood has the power to bring barren places back to life! He has the power to bring us up out of the wilderness and back into a place of life and freedom!

This series will look at what that means. This series will look at examples throughout the Word of God to see what lessons are to be learned and what truths are to be applied as we talk about coming out of the wilderness.

Our first candidate needs little introduction. This guy has been at the center of many Sunday School lessons and church teachings. He is none other than Moses.

Moses did a little time in the wilderness. What is unique about his stay in the wilderness is Moses put himself there.

Moses has a remarkable back story. At the time of his birth, the Hebrews were slaves under the Egyptian rule. The Pharaoh was a bit of a worrier… he saw the increasing Hebrew population as a problem. He worried that if the Hebrews grew too many in numbers, they would revolt and win their freedom. So he gave the order that no newly born Hebrew boys would live. We see this recorded in Exodus 1:22

Moses was born after this order was given. And, according to Exodus 2:3 When Moses’ mother could not hide him any longer...The baby would be discovered by the Pharaoh’s daughter and his life would be saved.

Exodus 2:3 NIV

But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

The baby would later be discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter and his life would be saved.

Moses was a Hebrew man, growing up in an Egyptian home. His own people were slaves under the rule of the house he lived in. This conflict would come to a head in Exodus 2:11-12

Exodus 2:11–12 NIV

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Moses at this time was near 40 years old and thought he had done a great thing! Moses thought he was helping a fellow brother! But that was far from the truth. He is called out two verses later by a fellow Hebrew and it strikes fear into his heart.

Pharaoh would also find out and tried to kill Moses. So mosses fled… to the wilderness. He went to Midian where he would spend the next 40 years of his life.

Moses went from a place of influence and power to a place of desolation and barrenness. He acted according to his understanding and created quite the mess.

Moses believed that what he was doing was justified by the situation at hand. He knew, however, that his actions, no matter how justified they were, were wrong. Sin is NEVER an answer. Sin is NEVER a solution.

Moses looked around before slaying the Egyptian. He realized his actions, if found out, would be condemning. He covered his track, but the very next day he realized he didn’t cover them well enough.

Moses’ problem wasn’t that he got caught, Moses’ problem was he took control of the situation. He carried out his own plan and in doing so, landed himself a forty year long exile in the wilderness.

But God wasn’t finished with Moses! Not by a long shot! Moses had made some mistakes. his actions might have appeared non-redeemable. He even tried to hide his mistakes and how many know there is no hiding sin from God? But God wasn’t finished with Moses yet!

While in the wilderness…

Many things happened to Moses while in the wilderness. You can read about it in Exodus 2, but I’ll give the highlight reel.

Shortly after his escape from Egypt, Moses rescues the daughters of the priest of Midian at a well, married the priest’s daughter named Zipporah, and had a son. Moses would tend the flock of his father in law in the wilderness (According to Exodus 3) and had become, as he describes in his own words in Exodus 2:22

Exodus 2:22 NIV

Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

Stranger. Outsider. Not where he belongs. Ever feel that way before? And in Moses’s case, his actions, past actions mind you, placed him there. He felt out of place. And all the while the Hebrew people still remained under the hand and rule of the Egyptians.

Taking control has a way of doing that. Taking matters into your own hands will sometimes present a short term solution, but ultimately will present negative long term effects.

Life has a way of presenting difficult situations before us. And when these situations rise up, We can:

Do what Moses did, take control, and act on impulse or

Do as the Lord would instruct, walk in His ways, and give God full control.

Let me state it this way: Do we believe today that our God reigns? Do we really believe that? Do we believe that God is truly in control?

To reign is to possess or exercise sovereign power or authority. That power, authority and sovereignty belongs to God. And if we believe in His reign then we understand the importance of giving the Lord control over our lives. This means complete submission to His plan and to his way, AND full acceptance of His love.

And yet so often we find ourselves in a wilderness situation because we held on to our control and took the lead.

Moses found himself an outsider because he murdered a man. He thought he was delivering his fellow Hebrew from a bad situation. Moses’ way was incomplete, inadequate, insufficient, and insubordinate to God’s ways.

That will be the case when it comes to the difference between man’s ways and God’s ways. This is why it is critical that we allow the Lord to reign in our life.

Moses was down and out… But God had not forgotten about His people. God was not finished with Moses.

Moses tried things his way and ended up spending forty years in the wilderness. But the series title is not into the wilderness but OUT of the wilderness. God was about to turn things around. God was about to cultivate new life into what seemed like a dead situation.

Out of the Wilderness…

Out of the wilderness came a voice. A voice like nothing ever heard before. Exodus 3:1-3 tells the story

Exodus 3:1–3 NIV

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

Nothing so far was out of the ordinary that day, but this bush, this burning bush was a bit… out of place. Kind of like how Moses described himself in the wilderness. It certainly got his attention! But Moses had no idea what was about to happen next. Exodus 3:4-6

Exodus 3:4–6 NIV

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

God wasn’t finished with Moses. Moses had tried things his way and ended up fleeing for his life. He spent the last forty years in exile in the wilderness because of his actions. God had not forgotten about the suffering of His people, and God was about to reveal to Moses how that suffering would come to an end.

This moment, this burning bush moment was as if God was saying to Moses, “You tried it once your way, Moses. Now we are going to do things MY way!’

The burning bush had Moses’ attention. He listened to the voice of God, but Moses was still holding on. Holding on to what? Control!

Moses is talking to God who is talking to Moses through a burning bush. This conversation is happening on a very supernatural level, and Moses starts bringing out the “what ifs” in his doubt and control. Moses failed miserably once. He doesn’t want to fail again.

Moses questions God’s plan five times throughout the conversation. He can’t see how God could use him to deliver the people from Egypt! The Bible speaks of the Lord’s frustration and we see God correct Moses sternly in Exodus 4:11-12

Exodus 4:11–12 NIV

The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

It’s as if God were saying to Moses “Don’t you know who it is that you’re talking to? Don’t you know that I am God? Stop this doubting nonsense and get a move on!”

God began to rework the ground thought to be dead! Moses heard the voice of God call him out of the wilderness. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions and submitted to the Lord’s control.

So you’ve been struggling. So you’ve been doing all you can, giving all you’ve got. You’ve held on to doing things your way and you find yourself running out of strength, and running out of life.

Today, the Lord is speaking to you. Today the Lord is calling you out of that wilderness. Today He wants to cultivate in you new life, but it only happens if you submit to His control, to His lordship, to His reign.

We know the end of this story. Moses, under the power and instruction of the Lord, leads his people to freedom. The Egyptian army is destroyed under the crushing waves of the Red seas that parted for God’s people but swallowed the Pharaoh’s soldiers.

But how is the story of your situation going to end? Will it conclude with a supernatural turn around or will you remain in the wilderness as you remain in control trying to fight your way through?

God has not called us to fight… He has called us to faith… to place our faith in Him!

God has remarkable things in store for you today! He isn’t finished with you yet! Today is a wake up call! Today is a burning bush moment for you. God’s Spirit is calling out saying “Will you give me control? Will you trust and follow me?”

Taking the right steps…

The acceptance of God’s reign in our lives begins the moment we realize our need for a Savior.

Just like the Hebrew people, we need a deliverer. Someone who is able to deliver us from the consequence of our sin. Sin enslaves us, traps us and binds us. It condemns us to an inescapable fate of death.

But God heard the cry of our desperate situation. He sent His Son in response and Jesus brought deliverance to all through His death and resurrection.

He died for our sin. He followed His Father’s plan as He gave His life for us. Through Jesus, we break the control sin has over us and find freedom in forgiveness. Romans 6:6 tells us

Romans 6:6 NIV

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

Just like Moses… when we give into the fleshly impulses… we are acting as slaves to sin. that sin still has mastery over us. THE ONLY WAY TO BREAK FREE IS FOUND IN JESUS! Remember… SIN IS NEVER THE ANSWER. SIN IS NEVER A SOLUTION.

If we desire for God to come cultivate new life in a heart that is rough, rocky and barren, then we must give our life over to God. We must give the Lord control.

We repent of our sins and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is what? IS LORD!

PRAYER - Salvation

Secondly, We need to Allow God to remain in control.

God had Moses’s attention in the wilderness with the burning bush, but Moses still had trouble letting go. The “what ifs” starting coming out. Moses’ fear was revealed. God was calling him out of the wilderness, but Moses had a hard time accepting what God was going to do. God gave Moses the instruction and the tools he would need to accomplish the plan. Moses was reminded of who God was.

Allow the Lord to do that in you today. Allow His Spirit to remind you of who He is, what He has done, and what He wants to do in you AND through you!

He wants your attention. Today He is calling you out of the wilderness. Today is your burning bush moment. He is calling you out of fear and back to faith. He is calling you from a place of death and despair back to new life. Will you respond? Will you give the Lord control?