Written by: Phil Pusey - Burton Youth For Christ
Exodus 2 v 16-22
There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went
to that well to get water to fill the water troughs for their father’s flock.
Some shepherds came and chased the girls away, but Moses defended the girls and
watered their flock.
When they went back to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you come
home early today?”
The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us.
He got water for us and watered our flock.”
He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Invite him
to eat with us.”
Moses agreed to stay with Jethro, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses
to be his wife. Zipporah gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom, because
Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.
Notes
Isn’t it encouraging when someone unexpectedly comes to our aid, or when the
list of jobs for any given day shrinks due to life “going our way”? Jethro
was very surprised to see his daughters home early on this particular day,
so much so that he wanted to know what had happened. Had they shirked their
responsibilities, or cut a few corners here and there in order to get their
jobs finished? No. In fact, they had benefitted from unexpected help in their
daily chores which enabled an early finish. Jethro was then shocked to discover
that his daughters had not invited the mystery helper home to receive extremely
generous hospitality as a sign of their gratitude. We can all offer guests
a meal, or a place to rest, even if we have no daughter to give in marriage!
I glean two things from this passage to challenge and encourage me. Firstly, when I do commit my daily tasks to God (which is not as often as I should) and allow Him opportunities to participate in my life in whichever ways He chooses, then I am continually blessed by how He rearranges my priorities and schedules, and I accomplish far more with less stress and weariness on my part. People I need to speak to call me, pressure on time melts away as priorities become clearer, and I see what I really need to do.
Secondly, I am reminded of the crucial importance of gratitude. Remembering to say “thank you” keeps my own heart healthy. As I remind myself of God’s provision - my health, family and friends, food, forgiveness, etc - it counters my human tendency to complain and grumble about the things I haven’t got, or what I feel God hasn’t done for me.
Prayer
Father, help me to remain thankful and not slip into complaining. I choose
to remember gifts from Jesus, right through to everyday provisions. Please
help me to involve You in all aspects of everyday life, not limiting You
to specific slots, and allow You to develop Your plans and purposes in me.
Amen
Exodus 2 v 23-25
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because
they were forced to work very hard. When they cried for help, God heard them.
God heard their cries, and he remembered the agreement he had made with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. He saw the troubles of the people of Israel, and he was
concerned about them.
Notes
It is a great relief to me that God hears my cries for help, even if many of
them are expressed as groans and moans. For the Hebrew people, their cries
were fuelled by years of slave labour at the hands of the Egyptians and were
as heartfelt as anything we would offer up in the deepest personal crises
of our lives. God may have appeared indifferent, but in the background He
was very much involved, outworking His plan for a great Exodus.
How often do we fall into the trap of thinking God is indifferent to our pleas for assistance? Yet once through the desert or “dark night of the soul” experience, we often see, sometimes years later, that God has actually worked miraculous changes in us and has kept us on track. It is a major challenge to hold in tension God’s continual presence with us - which is a sure and certain promise reiterated throughout the Bible - and His occasional apparent reluctance to get involved at some of the most painful moments we each experience in life.
My experience is that God uses the painful or tough times to do some of His best work in me. I have always struggled with pride - I guess most men do - but God has systematically dealt with several areas of pride through painful life experiences. It probably would not have happened any other way. I still have a long way to go, but God has made a start on transforming me into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ, the humblest man who ever lived.
Prayer
Father, help me to truly hang on to the truth that You have promised to be
with me always, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Also, please give me the
courage to trust You when things are painful or hard, and to realise that
You are doing more unseen than seen. Amen
Exodus 3 v 1-3
One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s flock. (Jethro was the priest of
Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law.) When Moses led the flock to the west
side of the desert, he came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel
of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses
saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. So he said, “I
will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without
burning up?”
Notes
For most of us, a burning bush would turn our heads, but for Moses - an experienced
shepherd in the arid heat of the Middle East - it was not an unusual sight.
So what caused Moses to go for a closer look? The unexplained aspect for
Moses was not that this bush was on fire, but rather that it was not being
consumed or burnt up. It was continuing to burn for a prolonged period of
time, because - as Moses later found out - God was present in the burning
bush.
People talk about “burnout” today in a variety of settings, particularly in the high-flying business world, the sporting world and also in Christian circles. Some live by the belief that we must not burn ourselves out; others suggest it’s better to burn out doing everything than waste away accomplishing nothing. The truth is that all of us face increasing pressures on our time from work, study, family, church and social commitments, and fitting together the weekly jigsaw of priorities requires incredible wisdom.
Does the burning bush give us an insight into how to avoid burnout? The key, as mentioned earlier, is that God was at the heart of the bush, which was the reason it didn’t burn out. This has to be true for us as well. God provides the wisdom, strength and grace to enable us to juggle our daily pressures if we are prepared to let go and allow Him into all aspects of our lives. He has a plan for each of us, which does not include burnout. Discovering and living that plan will accomplish all that God has intended for each of us.
Prayer
Father, please invade every area of my life with wisdom, so that I might know
what Your purposes and priorities are. Show me my true calling and equip
me to fulfil the destiny I was created for. Amen
Exodus 3 v 4-6
When the LORD saw Moses was coming to look at the bush, God called to him from
the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you
are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was
afraid to look at God.
Notes
Having turned aside to view the unusual sight of a bush burning but not being
consumed, Moses was about to learn some important basic lessons in a relationship
with God. Firstly, God is in charge and we listen to what He has to say.
He calls the shots, and we do as we are told. Our role in the partnership
involves obedience and trust, leaving the lead role to God.
Secondly, when we meet with God in a significant encounter - as the burning bush was for Moses - God often invites us to give something up, to take something off, to allow Him to remove something of ourselves which He then moulds and shapes into something more reflective of Himself. Meeting with God is life-changing. That is why worship and prayer are such powerful experiences. We come as we are, and God changes us more into His likeness. This in turn equips us to be more authentic in our service and representation of God in our daily lives.
Thirdly, when we see God as He is, we quickly realise He is to be feared. In recent times many Christians have lost their reverence of God, becoming complacent due to an emphasis on the overwhelming grace and love of God. The balance between grace and reverence is difficult to maintain, but crucial if we are to have a full understanding of our relationship with the Almighty Creator, Father God.
Prayer
Father, I know I need to meet with You in order to be transformed by Your power
and love. Help me to keep regular appointments with You, both by myself and
in corporate gatherings. Please help me to grow in my understanding of who
You truly are. Amen
Exodus 3 v 7-10
The LORD said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt,
and I have heard their cries when the Egyptian slave masters hurt them. I
am concerned about their pain, and I have come down to save them from the
Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land and lead them to a good land
with lots of room — a fertile land. It is the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. I have heard the cries of the
people of Israel, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard
for them. So now I am sending you to the king of Egypt. Go! Bring my people,
the Israelites, out of Egypt!”
Notes
As I read this passage I can imagine myself in Moses' shoes. I hear God saying
that He has seen the trouble that His people are in, He has heard their cries
for help, He has seen the injustice of the Egyptian slave masters, and He
is ready to act to bring a good solution. I would be there saying, "Yes,
yes, YES! Go for it, God! This is what I have been waiting for!", only
to have my worst fears confirmed when God says, "So I am sending you." "NO,
God, you’ve got it wrong," and the excuses come flooding out: "I
can’t do that. I’m scared. What if...? Send Aaron, he’s far better than I
am."
What stops us fully participating with God in our lives? Fear is often a reason, alongside doubt and low self-esteem. All of these are rooted in a lack of trust in God and His ability to deliver. If He chooses you for a job, He has reasons for it. You could be the best person for the job, or it could be that God wants to demonstrate His abilities through someone prepared to take the risk of obedience. The amazing truth is that God chooses to work in partnership with us, His creations, to accomplish His eternal plan.
If we are waiting for God to do it all for us, we are in for a long wait. However, if we are prepared to take up our partnership role of obedience then we will be amazed at what God accomplishes through and with us.
Prayer
Father, I find it amazing that You choose to use me as part of Your plan to
redeem and renew your creation. Today I submit myself to Your plan for my
life. Please give me the courage I need to be obedient to Your every command.
Amen
Exodus 3 v 11-15
But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! How can I go to the king and
lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”
God said, “I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you:
after you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me on this
mountain.”
Moses said to God, “When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, ‘The God
of your fathers sent me to you.’ What if the people say, ‘What is his name?’
What should I tell them?”
Then God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. When you go to the people of Israel,
tell them, ‘I AM sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “This is what you should tell the people: ‘The LORD
is the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the
God of Jacob. He sent me to you.’ This will always be my name, by which people
from now on will know me."
Notes
How often do we demand some kind of assurance from God that we have heard Him
right and are doing what He wants us to do? This is very sensible if, like
Moses, we are to confront a worldly dictator asking him to kindly release
his slave workforce into their freedom. For lesser tasks we may be better
off learning to trust God and take Him at His word.
When you do have to ask God for assurances, avoid asking for a guaranteed outcome. Faith requires us to trust, so cast-iron guarantees are out of the question. God gave Moses “proof”, which was that after Moses and the people had obeyed they should worship God on this same mountain. That’s God’s idea of proof, though maybe not ours. I know I would want a step-by-step guide to check at every point that things are going to plan. In my experience, however, this rarely happens. Unfortunately, many of us won’t act without knowing the final outcome, preferring to back out rather than risk stepping out in faith.
The assurances we CAN ask for are to confirm who is doing the sending, and maybe to ask for clarification on the instructions given. However, there is one assurance we are guaranteed and that is the presence of God. He promises never to leave or forsake us, which if we truly know our God should be enough to provoke us into immediate obedience. So if we want to do great exploits for the God we serve, our first task is to know Him intimately - His name, His character and His love.
Prayer
Father, I want to grow in my ability to trust and obey when You call me to
a task. Please help me to see You more clearly, know You more dearly and
follow You more nearly. In Jesus' name, Amen
Exodus 3 v 16-22
“Go and gather the elders and tell them this: ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, I care about you,
and I have seen what has happened to you in Egypt. I promised I would take
you out of your troubles in Egypt. I will lead you to the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — a fertile land.’
“The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders of Israel will
go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, appeared
to us. Let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the
LORD our God.’
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Only a great power
will force him to let you go, so I will use my great power against Egypt. I
will strike Egypt with all the miracles that will happen in that land. After
I do that, he will let you go. I will cause the Egyptians to think well of
the Israelites. So when you leave, they will give gifts to your people. Each
woman should ask her Egyptian neighbour and any Egyptian woman living in her
house for gifts — silver, gold and clothing. You should put those gifts on
your children when you leave Egypt. In this way you will take with you the
riches of the Egyptians.”
Notes
Moses was an inexperienced man in terms of practical leadership, despite all
the training he had undergone in Egypt many years earlier. Young people have
much to contribute in terms of leadership. They are idealistic, thrive in
situations of high risk and are willing revolutionaries keen to see change.
However, as church history clearly demonstrates, changes in style, focus
or structure often flounder and within a generation or two become as “traditional”
as the denominations they have splintered from.
God’s plan for Moses involved him going to the “elders” because they would listen to him. They would prove to be useful allies in convincing the Hebrew people that an exodus from their time as slaves in Egypt was on God’s agenda. This is the best form of leadership - youthful enthusiasm and idealism, harnessed with the experience, wisdom and solidity of older leaders to produce dynamic and purposeful guidance.
The other point to note from the passage is that God knew Moses would not succeed in convincing the king of Egypt without some supernatural intervention. This is another important factor in leadership. However gifted, charismatic or orthodox our human leadership is, nothing of lasting value and eternal significance will be achieved without the supernatural equipping and intervention of God. Unless the Lord builds the house, the people labour in vain, as the psalmist so rightly puts it.
Prayer
Father God, I am reminded that without You I can achieve nothing, but in partnership
with You, and the people of all ages You have placed around me, I can play
my part in seeing Your kingdom come and Your will being done on earth as
in heaven. Amen
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes