Greetings again my Brethren. For the last few months we have looked at Moses making excuses and raising objections to His call from God. One thing for sure if you do not really want the call of God (even though it is God’s plan for your life) then the best God can give you will fall to the ground until you decide to pick it up. It is amazing to know many people in life have accepted God’s second or even third best for their lives. I know of people who have married God’s second best for their lives because they could not wait (bad situations got them in trouble) nor had the spiritual wherewithal to hear from Him. I wonder how many people are doing jobs that God did not want them to do? Probably the same number of people who expected God’s second or third best. Here is a really sad thought. I wonder how many people had to wait or did not hear about the Gospel because the one God wanted to minister the life of God did not want to go. Paul tells us,
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) God desires none to be lost no not one so He will find someone with a heart for ministry and bring them to hungry hearts.
So this month we will look at how God trained Moses for instantaneous, unquestioning obedience. If God cannot get us to obey the first time He speaks then He will have to keep approving and qualifying (testing us) us in ways to get our attention so that we will learn to respond the first time. Life is nothing more than a test or series of tests to see if we have learned the lessons God is trying to teach us so that we can receive the next thing God has for us. God will not allow untrained and unskilled children to mess up things. God will not give His children real responsibility within the Body of Christ unless they can learn how He operates and functions and He teaches this by lessons he brings our way in life. When John Wright Follette taught in Bible School he had a sign over his desk that read, “yes Lord.” As a student would visit his office for counseling they would sit down and behind him was the sign. The message was clear, God is looking for instantaneous, unquestioning obedience the first time He speaks. We often question the things God allows in our lives (especially the small things that really irritate us), but God has a reason for everything that happens in our lives no matter how silly we think they are. In Exodus we find Moses in a strange training situation where He learned the need for instantaneous, unquestioning obedience. We read, “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. 7And 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.” (Exodus 4:6-7) I guess the rod to snake and back to rod was not enough for Moses to get the lesson God was teaching him. The last lesson had to be a showbiz parlor trick that astounded Moses and yes God was teaching him to be used by Him he had to put his life on the line, but this test brought it closer to home. Here God used Moses’ body to get his attention. If God really wants to get our attention often He touches our health. Nothing is more important to us than our self. No one loves us like we love our self. You know God knows how to get our attention make no mistake about that. The words, “And the LORD said furthermore unto him” tells us the first lesson was not learned or God needed to reinforce what He wanted to teach Moses. But notice God told Moses to put his hand “into thy bosom” (or put your hand under your garment) and he did. The first lesson was understood well enough to teach him obedience, but the second lesson was to teach him instantaneous, unquestioning obedience. Surprise God spoke Moses obeyed and surprise surprise Moses got leprosy. What a lesson. Now what? Well God spoke again, “Put thine hand into thy bosom again” and his hand was restored back to its normal flesh. Sounds like the rod to snake and back to rod lesson, but now the stakes were higher. Who wants to be a leper? How can God use Moses to fulfill His plan for his life with his nose, fingers, and toes falling off? God was teaching Moses He does things instantaneously and it will take instantaneous obedience on his part to be able to function and operate with Him. The showmanship was neat and inspiring, but we must never get caught up in the gee-whiz side of God doing things especially when it comes to things like miracles. Even with miracles there is a lesson that God is trying to teach us and if we cannot learn the lesson then God has to come at us from another angle and with each pass God raises the stakes. God is good at raising the stakes He knows just what it will take to get our attention. Moses found that out the hard way.
Next month we will look at a whole new area, how God gives to Moses the manifestation of the supernatural as the sign and divine accreditation. What is in our heart to object to when God calls. Listen closely my friend do you hear Him call now?
