Empowered Purpose

Sometimes we just do what we do because it’s what we know to do.  Have you been there?  This is who I am, this is how I’m wired, this is how I respond…so naturally, you do that – the thing you know, the thing you are comfortable doing.  I feel like this was the life of Moses – pre leaving Egypt.

He was born during troubling times with the persecution of the Jews. Pharaoh was set on killing all the male babies. This resulted in Moses being placed in a basket, set afloat in the Nile River, being found by Pharaoh’s daughter and ultimately raised in the palace.  Despite his Jewish bloodline, palace life is all he knew. He knew how to live as royalty. He knew how to walk as one with privilege. He knew how to act like the grandson of the Pharaoh. This came naturally to him because it’s how he grew up. It’s how he was positioned.  Little did he know, he was positioned for purpose.

Exodus tells us that Moses “went out to visit his people”, not the people he was raised with but his blood people. Why would Moses do that if what he knew was palace living? Because passion runs deep and doesn’t change because of our circumstances. There is a lesson in there for us. A challenge really, not to let our circumstances impact our passion.

Later we read that Pharaoh gave orders to have Moses killed because of what he did to the Egyptian overseer. Moses fled to Midian, sat down by a well, rescued girls from the shepherds who were trying to take advantage of them and he got the girls water. Moses was recognized as an Egyptian, not a Jewish man, yet his passion was still in play to help his people, the girls being terrorized by the shepherds. Again we see that our circumstances can change but our passion should stay the same.

In political leadership Moses had passion to help his people.

In a time of transition where Moses was considered to be an outcast, Moses had passion to help his people.

As a shepherd, living in the land of Midian, God calls Moses to free the Israelites. God taps into Moses “God given” passion to help his people – a passion Moses has demonstrated consistently throughout his life and how does Moses respond?  He all but refuses, asking God - but who am I?

Isn’t that interesting?  So many times prior to that encounter with God, Moses saw an injustice and he reacted without hesitation based on who he was. Yet when God officially called him to action, he responded by questioning who he was, questioning his capabilities to do what God asked him to do.

What ensues is this litany of excuses as to why Moses can’t do what he already has been doing!!  Again, so interesting.  What is different? What has changed for Moses?

From his seat of grandson of Pharaoh, Moses saw himself as having status and position. His natural thought was “I can make a difference.”

From his seat of an Egyptian traveling through a foreign land, Moses saw himself as one having reputation and social advantage. His natural thought was “I can make a difference”.

From his seat of a shepherd out in the desert taking care of his sheep, Moses saw himself as one who had nothing to offer, one who was less than, one filled with a lot of excuses as to why he couldn’t make a difference.  I’m not qualified, I don’t have the skill, I don’t have the power, position, or authority.

What changed was how Moses defined himself.

Moses saw himself as a political leader.

Moses saw himself as a man of privilege.

Moses saw himself as a commoner, a less than, an unqualified man.

With one view – he could take on the world.

With the other view – he couldn’t do anything.

How did God see Moses? As the one He chose, as the one He empowered, as the one He would lead, as the one He would be with, as the one who would deliver the people, as the one who was able, as the one.

Here’s an interesting thing to think about. Which Moses did God enter into covenant with? The Moses of political position or the Moses of lowly position?  The Moses of social standing or the Moses of depletion of worldly status?

The Moses who recognized he could do nothing on his own was the Moses that God was able to use.

Our covenant God meets us where we are, uses what we have, and equips us in our weakness. His covenant isn’t dependent on us, our ability, our skills or our status. His covenant is dependent upon HIM – His character, His strength, His love, His ability. Our natural born passion can only take us so far. It is limited. The limitations of our natural passion become infused with power when they are placed into the hands of our covenant God.

Moses gave God every excuse in the book for why he couldn’t or shouldn’t be the one, but God kept coming back with – I’m choosing you, I will go with you, I am sending you, you are My choice. God kept reminding Moses that this calling was about Him, not about Moses.

Can we just be real? Don’t we often feel more qualified when our title matches our objective? When we are positioned in a seat of influence, we feel like we can change the world…but when we aren’t, we tend to doubt, question, and we wonder how and why. We all have a little, or a lot, of Moses in us.

I don’t think Moses was having a position crisis, but an identity crisis…no longer in the palace, no longer with Egyptian status, Moses had to come to grips with the reality that God was calling him for who he was, not what he did. That wasn’t an easy thing for him to grasp.  It took wrestling with God, arguing, disagreeing, pushing back, digging in and finally acceptance. 

It wasn’t until after this process that God actually entered into covenant with Moses and with the people.  What made the difference? A willingness to be used by God where you are, with what you have, depending on God to be the one to do what He says He will do. 

So what is God calling you to do? Like Moses, let’s not get distracted by our circumstances or our position (or lack of). God’s calling is on YOU, not your job, not your city, not your house, not your bank account – but YOU.

The covenant of God with Moses reminds me of this truth – God wants YOU, God wants Me, period. God’s covenant is with people, not positions, not proximities, not even passions, but with people.  And that’s you and that’s me.

What is standing in the way of you putting your all on the table for God today? How about you give THAT to Him and watch God do what only God can do – through you!