DAY 1: WHEN GOD DOES SOMETHING NEW
God is always doing new things. When He leads us into a new chapter, He often grabs our attention first. Moses is a prime example. God arrests Moses’s attention by speaking to him from a burning bush. (Read Exodus 3:1–14.)
Two significant things happen during this exchange at Mount Horeb. First, God reveals His plan: He has come down to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt and lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey. (See Exodus 3:8). Next, God calls Moses to partner with Him. “Now go,” God says,“for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10 NLT).
Essentially, God shows Moses a picture of a future in which the Israelites are free and living in the Promised Land. But Moses sees only his shortcomings. “But why me?”he asks.“What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 MSG).
The new thing God plans to do is big, and Moses knows his limits. In addition, he’s comfortable in the land of Midian with his wife and her family, shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks.Moses’s current lifestyle can’t accommodate God’s plans for him.
The truth is, God’s call on our lives requires a new way of seeing, thinking, and living. Jesus says, “no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old wineskins would burst from the pressure”. (Matthew 9:17 NLT). Old wineskins have lost their elasticity and can’t expand to contain the fermentation in the new wine.
Moses must become more malleable in God’s hands to respond to His call. This will require faith, growth, and change. God doesn’t promise ease. Instead, He tells Moses, “I will be with you”(Exodus 3:12 NLT). As Moses discovers, coworking with God is a gamechanger.
In fact, Moses’s journey is marked by growing intimacy with the Lord, stemming from time spent together. Exodus 33:11 (NLT) says, “the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”
Notice how God’s plans take Moses out of isolation – he’s been languishing at the back of the wilderness – and brings him into the community of God’s people. In the same way, God places each of us in a healthy church community where we can grow, flourish, and live out our God-given purpose.
Ephesians 2:19–22 (MSG) says:“You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. Youbelong here … God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building … he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.”
Tomorrow, we’ll explore the power of being planted in the good soil of a healthy church.
Sep 18 2024
