Sin Destroys Destinies

Here is no doubt one of the more confusing passages of Scripture:

Exodus 4:24-26, At a lodging place on the way [to Egypt from Midian], the Lord met [or confronted] Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah [Moses' wife] took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Don't worry if you were uncomfortable reading that! I was uncomfortable writing it! It's so bizarre! But while this passage may initially strike us as peculiar, it becomes profound as we unveil the meaning behind it. 

In this passage God confronts Moses over a private area of sin Moses hadn't yet dealt with. This secret sin threatened to destroy his destiny and his very life (for sin always leads to death, Romans 6:23). You see, in Genesis 17:14 God instructed the descendants of Abraham, “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Circumcision was that external symbol that the Israelites were set apart for God's purposes, and though failure to obey was punishable by death, Moses disobeyed God in this area of his life. So God steps in and confronts Moses. It's as if God said to Moses, "Moses, you won't advance any further in My will until you deal with this. Get right or get left. Turn from your sin or miss out on My destiny for your life." 

Now look what happens when Moses finally obeys...when through Zipporah he fulfills the Abrahamic covenant requirement of circumcision. The Bible records "So the Lord let him alone." You see, when Zipporah touched Moses' feet with her son's foreskin, God counted it as a symbolic act of substitution, in which obedience was seen as replacing disobedience. As a result, God stepped off the path that prevented Moses from traveling any further in God's will. God hit the pause button on Moses' destiny but when Moses righted his wrong, God hit play once again. 

Do you feel like God has pressed the pause button on his plans for your life? Is there anything in your life that God calls sinful that you're trying to hide, ignore or justify? God doesn't want us to do any of those things. God wants us to deal with our sin, as Moses did, replacing disobedience with obedience. 

When we do, we invite God to un-pause his plans for our lives! 

Overcoming Insecurity

From the life of Moses we learn that: When God calls us into his service, our insecurities rise to the surface. His insecurities almost prevented him from stepping into his God-given destiny (to deliver the nation of Israel from their slavery in Egypt). Here's a sampling of insecurities that rose to the surface when God called Moses into his service...

Insecurity #1: I'm afraid (Exodus 3:4-6).

Insecurity #2: I can't do that (Exodus 3:7-10).

Insecurity #3: I'm nobody (Exodus 3:11).

Insecurity #4: I don't have all the answers (Exodus 3:13)

Insecurity #5: I lack the ability (Exodus 3:18, Exodus 4:1)

I can sympathize with Moses! When God called me to start New Day my insecurities rose to the surface. When God called Kristin to home educate our children, her insecurities did the same. You see: When God calls us into his service, our insecurities rise to the surface. And if we're not careful our insecurities can prevent us from stepping into God's plans for our lives.

So how did Moses overcome his insecurities? God told Moses in Exodus 3:12, “...I will be with you...” and in Exodus 4:12, “...I will help you...” Once Moses took to heart these two truths, he was willing to step into his God-given destiny. And how Moses overcame his insecurities is exactly how you and I overcome ours. When we realize that God is with us and that God will help us, we'll find the courage to say "yes" to God's plans for our lives.

We don't have to let fear stop us. We don't have to be somebody to be used by God. God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. We don't have to have all the answers to begin. As we move in the direction God is leading, further revelation will be given as needed. We don't need to worry about lacking the abilities needed to get the job done. God equips the called; He doesn't call the equipped. All we need to overcome our insecurities and step into God's plans for our lives is to remember that God is with us and God will help us! 

Do We Really Have Free Will?

As we're studying through the life of Moses, let me address a passage of Scripture I've received a number of questions about over the years.

God said concerning Pharaoh in Exodus 4:21, "...I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." This has understandably caused some to question whether or not we as humans really have free will. The line of reasoning goes like this: If God caused Pharaoh's heart to be hard, Pharaoh didn't really have a choice in the matter, did he? This leads some to conclude they don't really have a choice either. That being the case, they toss all moral caution to the wind, concluding: God made me this way. Why fight against God?

Not wanting anyone to believe they don't really have free will and not wanting anyone to believe God has made them stubbornly sinful, I write this blogpost.

When the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, it's speaking of the effect God had on Pharaoh's heart, not that God forced Pharaoh to be stubbornly sinful.

We know this because of the following verses...

• Exodus 7:14 says "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go." 

• Exodus 8:15, "But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen..." 

You see, the problem resided in Pharaoh, not in God. It was his stubborn nature that caused his heart to harden, not our Heavenly Father. Let me illustrate what's happening here...

As the sun in the sky shines down upon wax, the wax melts. As the very same sun in the sky shines down on clay, the clay hardens. The sun doesn't determine what happens to the objects it shines upon. The nature of the object is the determining factor. The nature of Moses' heart was as wax. As God gave Moses his commands, Moses' heart melted in obedience. The nature of Pharaoh's heart was as clay. As God gave Pharaoh his commands, Pharaoh's heart hardened in disobedience. God didn't determine what happened to Moses or Pharaoh. The nature of each person was the determining factor.

God has indeed given us free will. We can choose to obey or disobey. We can choose to melt in obedience or harden in rebellion. The choice is ours. So when we stand before God on judgment day He won't accept "But You made me this way!" as a valid excuse. 

Key to Writing

This past weekend I was at a convention in Worcester, MA and one of the keynote speakers said something I found insightful and true: The key to writing is re-writing. 

The context of her speech had absolutely nothing to do with writing a sermon, but the statement is so applicable nonetheless. What's the key to writing a good sermon? The key to writing is re-writing. When I initially print out my message each Thursday it's nice and clean, but after reviewing my message over and over prior to Sunday, it eventually looks like this (see picture below).

Rewriting isn't necessarily about changing the content, just discovering a clearer and better way to communicate it. Here's (basically) how this looks for me...

• First draft includes the basic message, but lots of superfluous material 
• In the second draft I start seeing what parts I could eliminate 
• In the third draft I start seeing better ways to communicate the content that made the cut 
• In the fourth draft I'm reviewing the core essence of the message 

Note: I don't personally re-type my message. As I read it over and over I cross stuff out and make lots of notes. It's in that sense that I re-write. 

Whether you're writing a letter to the editor or a sermon, the key to writing is re-writing. Re-writing brings clarity and focus and increases the chances your audience will understand what is is you're trying to communicate.