RELINQUISHING THE WILL
Text: Ex 4:1-9; 30-31
4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
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.
4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Introduction:
- When God calls us to surrender, He’s not calling us to raise a white flag or live with a sense of defeat and humiliation. A white flag surrender indicates
- Surrender is about trusting God and His heart for you and entrusting your heart to Him. It’s like the surrender experienced at a wedding ceremony. In a wedding you surrender but you don’t lose, you
1. Available To Go
- At the burning bush God calls Moses to go down into Egypt and lead the Jews out of bondage. Moses’ response is, “I’m not able.”
God’s calling for Moses wasn’t tied to Moses’ ability. God was simply asking for Moses’ availability.
God gives us His
- God wasn’t asking Moses to be able. He was asking Moses to make himself available – relinquish his will.
2. Excuse Mo
- When God calls us to a new season of ministry, it will require
- Sometimes we find it hard to obey. We actually don’t want to obey. We disobey, and then we justify our disobedience with an excuse.
- All of Moses’ excuses were
3. Sign Show
- What does the Lord give Moses in response to Moses’ excuses? He gives Moses three signs: snake, leprosy being cleansed, and water from the River Nile being turned to blood.
- These signs would be performed for Moses, the elders, and the leaders of Egypt. The message is: Egypt is
4. It’s A “Know” Go
- vs. 10 – Oh my Lord (Adonai-Master, Lord, Sovereign), please send anyone but me. I can’t talk.
Moses is like, “It’s no go. No. Please don’t send me. I can’t. I just know things aren’t going to work out the way you think. They will work out the way I think.”
Do you see the irony here? God, you are sovereign. You can do anything! But my
The plans of God almost always work out differently than you think.
- Obedience, surrendering your will, making yourself available is rooted in faith (trust) in a person not
It’s not, “I know how things are going to work out so I trust the knowledge.” No, it’s “I know that One who is working out the plan so I trust Him.”
What God wanted from Moses was his surrendered trust in who God is.
When God calls us to new season, it will require answering the call. That call will be to fulfill His purpose, to receive His blessings, and to move in His directions. But, we won’t answer the call until we relinquish our wills.