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DAY 2: Moses vs. “Moses”
If there was a Bible Hall of Fame, Moses would be Babe Ruth. Larger than life. A titan. Timeless.
He’s The Beatles. He’s Shakespeare. He’s Oprah.
In the gospels, Jesus made multiple mentions of Moses. Even the writer of Hebrews extolled Moses’ fearlessness and far-sighted commitment to God: “It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” (Heb. 11:27 NLT)
Face it. The guy was an absolute legend.
Why is that important? Because he didn’t start out that way.
Moses grew up in luxury, and that probably helped make him into an arrogant know-it-all. He was also a total hot-head and even murdered a guy. Coward that he was, he fled the scene and hid out in the desert for decades. Not very heroic, right?
“Okay,” you say, “but then God showed up and spoke to him through the burning bush and Moses listened and then went to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh and saved the Israelites, right?”
That’s right. Except for multiple times Moses told God, “No thanks” and gave no less than five different excuses for why he was the wrong man for the job. His absolute refusals got to be so much that God almost wiped him out! Of course, Moses eventually got it in the right gear and became the Moses we all admire, but it wasn’t exactly a smooth stroll back to Egypt.
Let’s contrast the Moses of the Bible with a very different “Moses.”
From an early age, Harriet Tubman was overwhelmed with visions of God. Not many years out of her teens, Harriet felt God telling her to flee her plantation and seek freedom. She left her husband and family behind and ran off. The trip was terrifying and she almost died multiple times before making it to Philadelphia and liberation. Almost the moment she arrived, she felt God urging her to return back to her plantation to save her family and other slaves. Over several years, she went back, again and again, and saved more than 70 other slaves, earning her the nickname, “Moses.” Most incredibly, she never lost a single person who journeyed with her on the Underground Railroad.
The problem with asking God to talk to you is that eventually He will! The question is, will your attitude be attentive enough to listen when He speaks?
Moses didn’t want to hear from God. Harriet did. So it becomes critical to have done the heart-work BEFORE He speaks to you – otherwise you too will say to Him, “No thanks.”
In our last lesson, we learned the importance of a Posture of Preparation for hearing God. Today’s lesson is to have an Attitude of Attentiveness.
Today when you pray:
- Take a Posture of Preparation and say “Speak ,Lord, for your servant is listening.”
- Ask God to give you an Attitude of Attentiveness, “Lord, make my heart willing to hear You.”
