Moses – Coward to Leader

MOSES – COWARD TO LEADER

PREACHER – GRAYDON SCHOLTZ

Reading:  Exodus 4:10-17

 

Introduction

 

• This is the first week of our new sermon series called ‘New Beginnings’. In this series we going to be taking a look at 5 people whose encounter with God left them changed forever.

 

• I will be kicking the series off tonight by looking at Moses and what happened when he first encountered God and how he reacted, we will also take a look at how God took Moses from a cowardly boy and turned him into one of the greatest prophets and leaders in human history.

 

• Before we begin getting into it let’s just prayer….

 

• Read Passage (Exodus 4:10-17)….

 

Breakdown of Talk

 

• Tonight we going to be looking at 3 broad events that occurred in Moses’ life and they occur in all of our lives at one point or another. They are: God’s call; Moses’ response and; Moses’ equipping and transformation.

 

• Tonight I really want all of us to put ourselves in the shoes of Moses and try learn from both his good & bad decisions.

 

Let us first take a look at God’s call to Moses and also God’s call to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God’s Call…..

 

God’s constant call

 

• Regardless of where we are in life, God is always speaking to us; through people, through his words and through signs and wonders. He is always calling us to something. He is always challenging us and pushing us to transformation. God wants to refine us and make us into His likeness more and more.

 

• Whether He is calling you to lead a church or to change your lifestyle, He is always longing for us to be mindful and open to His will and plans.

 

Moses calling

 

• Now Moses had a huge calling placed upon his life which eventually brought about a huge transformation. In Exodus 3, if remember from Sunday school, God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush.

 

• God tells Moses that He has heard the cry of the Israelites and that he is calling Moses to free God’s people from bondage and oppression.

 

• Now up to this point we have seen a miraculous appearance of God; Moses sees God and hears His voice, and then he is called to do this huge task by God. Needless to say Moses is pretty shaken up.

 

• God calls him to go back to the people that he grew up with and challenge them. To challenge a regime that had existed for 400 years.

 

Our own calling

 

• Relating this now to our own lives we need to realise firstly, as i said earlier, that God is calling all of us to something, and secondly that sometimes what God is calling us to is not always easy and, in fact, often it is very difficult. Very rarely will God call you to an easy and sheltered life. God is in the business of transformation.

 

• When God attempts to change us He will put things before us that give us an opportunity to change, as He did with Moses.

 

• Whether He is asking us to give our lives & choose him as saviour or calling you to a challenging ministry; at the time of God’s calling it is rarely an easy decision met with no forethought.

 

Let’s move onto Moses’ response to God’s call….

 

Moses’/Our Response……

 

Moses’ reaction

 

• Moses reacts in way that is not very heroic, in fact, his cowardice is plainly seen. With such a huge task before him he doubts his individual capabilities. Isn’t this so like us, so like the way we respond to things that challenge our identities and lifestyle.

 

• All through Moses’ response he makes excuse after excuse, highlighting his inadequacy and amplifying the task placed before him.

 

God’s Response

 

• God responds with a simple phrase, “I will be with you”.

 

• Now when the God of the universe says that to you than there really is no come back.

 

Moses’ Resistance

 

• It is difficult to be certain why Moses was resistant to God’s call but there a few factors playing on my mind. Firstly, he was fearful of going back to challenge and confront his brother; he grew up in the Egyptian royal courts, the thought of challenging his family would make him very hesitant. Secondly, his own inadequacy would hinder his decision to be apart of God’s plan.

 

• I really resonate with the way Moses responds because I am exactly the same; I make excuses to hide the fact that my life has to change, I decide to play the victim card rather than face up to what I need to do.

 

• Now eventually Moses agrees to follow God’s call and ends up doing some incredible things which I am sure we all know very well but I want to focus on is the equipping and transforming of Moses.

 

Equipping and Transforming…..

 

Using the weakest

 

• Without fail God somehow manages to use the weakest and the least to: lead His people, perform miracles, and change nations. Many people don’t understand that Moses was a weak man whose strongest characteristics were fear and cowardice.

 

• If we turn to 1 Corinthians 1:27 we see Paul explaining to the church in Corinth that none of the people who were in leadership in that church were strong, wise, or holy according to earthly standards but yet God still used them in a huge way.

 

• God simply loves using the foolish and the least to do His work.

 

Equipping

 

• Throughout the story of Exodus Moses was constantly assisted by the mighty hand of God and was taught to be courageous through God’s Spirit and strength rather than relying on his own. Performing miracles and being bold in speech and in action didn’t come naturally to Moses and yet he was able to do these things through God’s Spirit.

 

• Among other things, God brought Aaron, his brother, alongside him to help him express God’s message to the Egyptians.

 

• He gave Moses signs and wonders to perform to the Egyptians in the hope that they would believe in God.

 

Transformation

 

• God equipped Moses to do the task that he set before Moses in the hope that not only would the Israelite be saved but also that Moses would grow into the man that God planned for Him to be.

 

• Moses went from an ignorant stuttering coward to a man full of faith, courage and leadership.

 

• Seeing the truth about who Moses really was helps us see that we don’t need to be the strongest, the most talented, and even the most holy.

 

• We just need to understand that God is promising the very same thing to us as He did to Moses. God is saying that He will be with you. He never gives us a mission and than leaves us to it. Amidst all the hard decisions that are before you, He is with you.

 

My testimony

 

• I want to share a bit of my calling and testimony before I finish up, I don’t tell this story to draw attention to myself but rather to the God who has changed my life forever.

 

• I received a calling early on in my life. The first time I was filled with the Holy Spirit someone prophesied over my life that I was going to be like David; in character and in action, my life would resemble the life of David. I remember being so excited at the thought but having no clue what that meant. I remember beginning to read about David and my heart grew heavy, how could I be like this awesome man of God. I felt as though I could never live up to that.

 

• Some time past and I than got another word from someone else saying that just as David sung and played his harp over Saul so to would I have authority when I sung and played in front of people. It seemed to me to be more of a fairytale than a future event.

 

• I cannot tell you how faithful God has been to the word and calling He has placed upon me. When I was 18 I asked for a guitar for my birthday and learnt from scratch, 2 months later I was able to play well and lead church services in worship without any lessons. I learnt bass guitar in 2 weeks and drums in 4 months. I simply cannot give credit to myself because God is the one that changed my life and equipped me for what he has called me to do. At least once a month random people will come up to give me a word from God directly relating me to David.

 

• The point of me telling this to you is because God called me, then I fearfully followed and now He continues to equip me with what I need to perform His work.

 

Conclusion

 

• Only you know the choices and decisions you are facing but what I do know is that God is calling you to something and he is going to help you achieve that calling, all he needs is a willing heart. You are never too weak to be used by God. In fact it glorifies God more when the weak achieve great things through Him. 

 

• In 2 Corinthians Paul mentions how he chooses to boast in his fleshly weakness because it is through his weakness that God’s power is made perfect.

 

• When we are weak, than we become strong.

 

Let’s pray….