Moses Complaint of Self

When God began to call Moses and give him the divine instructions which would set the children of Israel free from Egypt, Moses did what most of us do; first he questioned himself.

Exodus 3:11 Moses says, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Modesty is good, however it cannot be carried to the point of no confidence. When God asks you to do something, do you go so far as to doubt it can be accomplished, solely based upon what you perceive to be your own inadequacies?

God gave Moses reassurance, and doubled it with a future promise. Verse twelve says, "Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." God told Moses, I will certainly be with you, and once you have completed this assignment, and you have gone through the test and trial of patience, perseverance, and allowing me to work in my time not yours, then as the task comes to a close, I will remind you of this very moment when I called you and gave you these instructions.

God will call us to do things which will require His help; which are too big for us to do by ourselves. He will also empower us to accomplish the task at hand. This is how we know it is God. We will need to have patience while awaiting His perfect timing of the task's fulfillment. Perseverance not to give up, even if we don't see or feel as if progress is being made. And then watch Him bring us full circle and quietly tap us on the shoulder to say, "Now that it is accomplished, remember when I told you it would come to pass?"

LORD, when you call us to a task, let us not lack confidence, let us understand some degree of uncertainty is expected, for if we could accomplish the task, we would not need You. Your desire is to show us how mighty You are, how much You love us, and for us to know You will go to any length to set us free.  Even when it looks as if nothing is coming to pass, this does not mean You are not at work or have forgotten about us. Thank You, LORD, for after the patience, perseverance and endurance, You gently remind us, it was You who were with us all along.  Thank You, for showing us how to fully trust in You!

11 Complaints of Moses

Exodus 3 begins to give us a clear understanding of how Moses went from a could have been, to being the Servant Leader, God called him to be unto the children of Israel.  However in the midst of this awesome calling, Moses still had flaws.  He presented to God a series of eleven complaints while walking out his calling.  

Eleven.  One past the number Ten, which is the number of law and order, government and restoration. One short of the number twelve, the number of Divine government, Apostolic Fullness.  The number eleven means incompleteness, disorganization, and disintegration.  

These eleven complaints, begin to show us in our own lives, the very reasons for us not moving forward with God, and patterns of why we fail to fully manifest what He has spoken to us and declared would come to pass in our lives. 

My quest is to present to you, what He has and is showing me, by simply walking through these complaints.  Let's begin to recognize them for what they are: Nothing in the presence of our LORD!

Let the journey of our calling, begin!

Coming To Dry Up

In Exodus 3:1, the Bible tells us "Moses came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb."  This had me wondering, how can the mountain of God, be also known as "horeb" which means to dry up?

Let's return to the "beginnings", meaning Genesis chapter 1, we see in verse 2, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  Here, we know the earth was covered by water, because of the sin of the pre-Adamic fall of Lucifer and his host of angels.  God judged them with destruction of their habitat. The method He used was a complete and total devastating flood, which destroyed all things, even vegetation, unlike the 382 days of Noah's flood, which did not destroy all. As the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, it began to "dry up" the devastation which had taken place in Genesis 1:1. Then God had to speak forth new life, however in Noah's flood, He simply pushed back the waters, which fulfilled His divine purpose, so the life which was there all along could be exposed. Now we understand why "Moses came to the Mount of God, even to Horeb."  God was beginning to move upon Moses to "dry up" the devastation in the lives of His people so He could expose the life which was already there.

Think about this in your life. You get off course and sin. The LORD sends judgement, which overcomes you and submerges all in which you had and lived. Your world is "underwater". However it doesn't destroy you totally. In the process of time, He sends His Spirit to you, and begins to move upon your circumstances to recede the "flood" of judgement in your life, thus bringing forth new life in you once again. He does not have to speak you back into life, for you were never totally destroyed, only covered in His divine purpose.   

If you feel as if you have been covered in a flood of devastation  and see all you have lived in before has been washed away, maybe the LORD is about to dry you up, restore you, and bring life back to you. All you need do is turn aside and see His great light.

Complaining Or Questioning Your Purpose

Once God revealed Himself unto Moses, Moses came forward with eleven complaints as to why not... Eleven. The number of incompleteness, disorganization, and disintegration. 

It had to be this way, for Moses, in his human self, was incomplete. He needed God. He was disorganized, for his direction and purpose were not clear. And talk about disintegration. He had come apart at the seams. Murdering a man, and then attempting to cover up the crime? And to go one step further He ran from, instead of owning up to his mistakes? 

Often times we are just like this. We are incomplete. We are disorganized and do not have our focus on God or what He has created us to do. You were not created to only work a job, and fill your life with material things. We are created for a purpose and can accomplish it through him.  

Are you complaining, or asking Him "what is my purpose?"

Returning To The Thing You Cast Off

When Moses cast his staff upon the ground, and it became a symbol of evil, Moses fled from it. However God sent him back to it. Not for it to hurt him, but to show Moses, he now had power over it.

The thing you have carried, harbored, leaned upon, and has weighed you down, you may see as a symbol of evil, pain and regret. But God will send you back to the very thing you try to flee from. Why? He wants to show you, how you now have power over it. Now you can pick it up. And now you can take it and go help set others free!

Will you trust Him, to use what you have carried and ran from?

Cast That Thing

Exodus 4:3 "And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it."

The very thing which Moses had been carrying all his life, unbeknownst to him, had become consecrated. God revealed Himself and showed Moses, He had been with him all along. Then He basically told Moses, "I know what you have, and I know what you carry." Then He commanded Moses to release it.

When Moses casts his rod upon the ground, it became a serpent, or a symbol of evil. This is why Moses fled from before it, for the bible instructs us to "Flee from evil".

When you release what you have, under God's direction, it will often appear to be evil. You may feel the pain trying to come back, the fear of loosing again, or even the bitter shame of admitting a past failure. However God has a plan. The question is do you trust Him, or what you see?

What You Have Carried With You

Exodus 4:2 "And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand, and he said, a rod."

Moses had a rod in his hand. We think of it as a walking stick, something to help him keep his balance. But the thing he carried was so much more, even before God revealed Himself to Moses, and showed him miracles, He was using the thing Moses carried to stabilize Moses' life in Him.

You see Moses was familiar with his rod. A shepherds rod was used to guide sheep, ward off predators  and to stabilize the shepherds walk over rocky ground. He leaned on it when he was weary and ran with it when he was happy. It was always with him, during good and bad times. All shepherds had one. All shepherds carried one. However, when God revealed Himself to Moses, the thing he carried, which seemed so common, became mighty in the hands of God. All Moses had to do was give it to Him and let Him use it.

What is it you have been carrying for a while? Maybe its the divorce you never wanted and the secret shame which goes with it? Maybe its the guilt you carry of an aborted child? Or perhaps its the secret addiction to pornography, drugs, or alcohol? Maybe its an temper, which is more explosive than dynamite? Whatever it is, you have carried it long enough. Its time to use it to fight off predators, guide others who come after you, and to stabilize you over rocky ground. Its time to give it unto God, and let Him work miracles with it!