August 30, 2009
This morning we are going to look at three snaps shots of Moses. I’ve called this message…
IT’S THE SMALL THINGS THAT GET TO YOU!
A FEW MEMORABLE MOSES MOMENTS
There’s a verse from the Song of Solomon – an interesting place to find this…
Song of Solomon 2:15
“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom.”
The importance of watching out for the little things is emphasized many times in the Scripture. Most of us would recognize the devil if he walked in here in a red suit with a pitchfork in hand and horns on his head. We’d know to resist Him…to rebuke Him.
But listen you and I both know that he is far too smart for that. It is in the subtle, unsuspecting little ways that he attempts to invade our lives. He comes in the back door as an “angel of light” Paul says.
The small problems, small irritations, small difficulties that are a part of every one of our lives. That seem to pile up in our lives until they become one big irritation! It’s not always the big problems that get us. It’s the small irritations that become our downfall. Those foolish things that can turn a good day into a bad day in a heartbeat!
Someone said,
“In the great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen.
In the small things they show themselves as they really are.”
It’s not always cheating an employer out of $1000’s but its returning wrong change back to the clerk at Safeway! (And letting our kids see us do it!) It’s the little things that make or break a person!
Q: How do you handle the little irritations of life?
I want to peek at three Moses Moments and see how he handled the irritations of life.
What an interesting life this man had! One of the greatest leaders who ever lived. He did lots of really BIG things. He’s one of our Hebrews 11- Heroes of the faith! THE BURNING BUSH, ISRAEL’S DELIVERER (stood up to the greatest power of the time – Pharaoh), THE PLAGUES, THE RED SEA, THE RECEIVER OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and THE LAW. A lot of big things in Moses’ life.
But for Moses, one of the greatest challenges in his life, one of the greatest challenges in anybody’s life, is the small things.
One of Moses’ greatest irritations in life was THE CONSTANT DRIP, DRIP, DRIP of grumbling people! Moses would have had a pretty easy life if it hadn’t been for the people he had to lead! Life would be pretty easy if weren’t for people! It also wouldn’t be much fun either!
Q: How do you handle the little irritations of life?
Listen to the Scripture about their condition before Moses…Early in the book of Exodus…they are still in Egypt - Their work was increased by the new Pharaoh…from many years of success and favor to years of slavery…
400 years in all…
Exodus 2:23
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out,
and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.”
First they groaned and complained about their slavery and hardships…then later after the 10 plagues…the Passover – 2 Million of them - they are on the road to freedom…still on the Egypt side of the Red Sea. When things looked rather bleak – Army behind them – Read Sea in front of them…listen to their words…2 Million of them under 80 year old Moses’ leadership…
Exodus 14:10-11
“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”
Do you know what I think? Moses should have turned the car around right there! What 80 year old needs this kind of pressure! If you don’t stop complaining we’re going to turn this car around and go home!
It would be just hours later after an amazing, remarkable miraculous crossing of the Red Sea – in which they saw their enemy totally annihilated before their very eyes…these very same people would say these words…You won’t believe it! Now on the other side-the desert side of the Red Sea…
Exodus 16:2-3
“The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pot of mean and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’”
How quickly we forget the pain of our past!
We all have the tendency to forget both the pain of our past and forget God’s goodness to us in the past!
THIS PEOPLE GRUMBLED ALL THE TIME! Moses could not win! We’re thirsty…we’re hungry…we’re tired…you’re a poor leader…and your brother is too! (Sister Miriam got off the hook!)
It was in the small things that eventually became Moses greatest struggle.
Q: What are the little foxes in your life? How about you? What is it for you? What are the small things that drive you crazy and steal your joy?
Internet? Freeway traffic? Slow power? Inept people? Complaining kids? (School starts real soon!) Boring job? Long lines? Impatient? Temptation? Computers? Clogged garbage disposals? People?
Let’s back up a little…here’s Moses on the desert side of the Red Sea – they had crossed the Red Sea Exodus 15.
In these Memorable Moses Moments he teaches us some good things…
#1
NOTHING IS TOO SMALL FOR PRAYER!
Exodus 15 records the song of Moses and Miriam. They rejoiced that the Lord miraculously brought them across the Red Sea – the walked beside WALL OF WATER - on dry ground and their enemy was drown before their eyes! Almost the whole chapter is devoted to this great song. In fact look at V.1 “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord”. THEY ALL WORSHIPPED.
The song ended…they journeyed three days away from the Red Sea…and guess what…THEY COMPLAINED! No surprise.
How quickly we forget the good that the Lord has done for us! They had just experienced the greatest miracle of all of their lives. This was remarkable! Walking beside “Walls of Water” several stories tall - on both sides on a dry riverbed…that’s not a normal day in anyone’s book! AMAZING! Then they sang and praised knowing it was miraculous! But 72 hours later they were complaining against Moses.
Q: Life is sometimes like that isn’t it? Full of lots of ups and downs. Our task is to is to be faithful regardless where you are! You don’t move from blessing God to cursing God…because the circumstances have changed! We all have disappointments – generally and hopefully not a succession of them. God does give us a break!
Exodus 15:22-24
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
After three days in the desert they came to water! A happy sight. They plunged their faces in the water to quench their thirst but were disappointed to find the water undrinkable.
Q: DISAPPOINTMENT can be debilitating can’t it?
The people complained and Moses asked God for help! They grumbled – and what does Moses do? Moses prayed.
V.25
“Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and the water became sweet.”
It happened again and again. What’s amazing is Moses prayed about Red Sea miracles…and the drinking water miracles.
Most of us tend to pray about the big decisions – big problems of life. When in reality He wants to be included in all of life. I know that God is moved by our sicknesses, our short fall, our crisis – but for some reason I wonder how He feels about my lost keys, or Jewelry, me being able to provide a surprise for my kids HE CARES ABOUT EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU! Often times we pray about the big stuff and we don’t pray about the little things and then we wonder when it’s the little things that get to us! Those “Little foxes” that ruin the vineyard!
When you do pray about things and the situation changes – or you have a divine appointment – you begin to recognize that God is concerned about your life! You begin looking for an answer! TALK TO HIM ABOUT SMALL DECISIONS…SMALL CHALLENGES…DIFFICULTIES.
1 Peter 5:7
“Give all your worries and cares to God
for He cares about what happens to you.”
You give ALL your worries and cares to God and you receive back, you discover that HE CARES FOR YOU!
So let’s do it right now. Think about one of those cares that you’ve been carrying these day. I want you to surrender it to Him. Big or small. Whether it’s a Red Sea LIVE OR DIE or the inconvenience of Bitter Waters or GRUMBLING PEOPLE IN YORU LIFE! DON’T FORGET - Remember what He’s done for you in the past. How good He has been! How faithful he has been! Nothing is too small for prayer! Remind me of that God. If I’m going to make it through the BIG THINGS – I’ve got to trust you with the small things! HELP ME BE MORE CONSISTANT IN MY FAITH!
The water became drinkable. I want you to notice that in the next few verses…within just few miles of Bitterness they were at a place called Elim. A good place! Listen how it is described
Exodus 15:27
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.”
Oh how quickly things change! Listen church - BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR FAITH whether at Marah or Elim! UP or DOWN be faithful to Him! Though life may swing you around, it may be up or down, good or bad, cold or hot. YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT TO STAY FAITHFUL TO GOD!
But listen – Rea Seas and Bitter waters were not their only challenges! They also began complaining about the lack of food!
#1
NOTHING IS TOO SMALL FOR PRAYER!
#2
NEVER FORGET GOD’S CARE FOR YOU!
Don’t forget the past! And God’s past care for your life. How He saw you through those Red Seas…those “Bitter waters”…how he refreshed you at “Elims”!
Q: How many of you have had some Red Seas in your Life? Did God come through for you?
Q: How many of you have had some Elims in your life? Don’t you appreciate them?
Whatever difficulty you are facing right now and some of you are facing difficult things right now. Whatever the difficulties, the truth of the matter is you wouldn’t breathe one breath of air this next week except God made the air to breathe. You wouldn’t breathe it except God made you to breathe the air.
God gave this young nation a daily reminder of His provision.
From Egypt DOWN…to Miracle at the Red Sea UP…to Marah DOWN…to ELim UP…to the Desert of Sin DOWN…
Listen…
Exodus 16:2-3
“The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pot of mean and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’”
Then God’s provision…UP
Exodus 16:4
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you and the people can go out each day and pick up as much food as they need for that day.”
Then God did it…
Exodus 16:14
“When the dew disappeared later in the morning, think flakes, which like frost covered the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. ‘What is it?’ they asked. In time this food became known as Manna.”
Remember what the word “Manna” means? It means “What is it?”
They named it after their first question they asked when they saw it… “What is it?” “Mom…what’s for dinner? What is it?” Yeah that what I asked! What’s for dinner! “What is it?”
This strange food had to be collected each day so there was a daily reminder for them that God would care for them! It wasn’t once a week…IT WAS EVERYDAY! Except on the 7th day…they were to rest that day. (So on the sixth they were collect two days worth.) In the morning God would provide Manna – Bread and in the evening he would provide meat – Quail for the nation. Just what they needed!
God does the same for us doesn’t He? It’s why we should thank Him for His many, many blessings! Everyday…when we sit at our table – we say thank you Jesus for our food – for providing it for us to eat! For blessing us with a home and family – and a table to eat out meal together at.
ILLUSTRATION
I’ve told you a number of times – there have been times when we’ve sat around our dinner table and everything on our table was provided by someone in our church. And we always rehearsed that with the kids. Meat, vegetables, dessert…all provided by God’s people. We were pastoring in the country – one day someone brought us a baking dish with a skinned, bare little rabbit! (Wabbit) I wasn’t going to eat bugs bunny!
The other interesting I noticed…did you notice when they were to collect it? In the morning – because when the sun came up the sun would melt the manna away. They had to start their day with a reminder of God’s care! What is interesting is they began their day with his provision of Manna and ended their day with God’s provision of quail! God began and ended their day with provision!
Q: Will you thank Him first thing in the morning for His many blessings? Practice that tomorrow morning – First thing in the morning think of 5 things to thank Him for. And THEN lift your needs up to the Lord! Some of my best prayer takes place on the way to the gym in the morning. It’s still dark out…radio is off…just me and the Lord! I can thank Him … pray for the needs of our church! WONDERFUL!
Manna would fall each morning for 6 days…for 40 years! 40 years of Manna! Manna Pancakes, Manna Cassarol, Boiled Manna, the Italian Israelites Manna Cotti! Did they ever complain about it? What do you think?
Let’s do that right…let’s just take a moment and thank Him for His many provisions…
#1
NOTHING IS TOO SMALL FOR PRAYER!
#2
NEVER FORGET GOD’S CARE FOR YOU! EVERYDAY!
Here’s the last Memorable Moses Moment…
#3
NEVER LET ANGER MAKE YOUR DECISIONS!
Moses made lots of great leadership decisions – but later in his journey with these grumbling people – He made one big blunder…
Our last Moses Moment…not such a good one for Moses. Recorded in Numbers 20
And it was a little thing that caught Him off guard. It was again the grumbling people that he had been with for many years. This single decision would keep Moses from ever entering the promised land…
The people are thirsty again…they are grumbling again…And God said to Moses…
Numbers 20:8-11
8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock Good so far! and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank."
Q: What had God told Moses to do to the rock? SPEAK TO IT! This was to be GOD who provide miraculously! Look at Moses’ words, “must we bring you water out of this rock?” That wasn’t His job! That was God’s job!
We learn a lot about how to deal with irritations of life from Moses’ successes. I think we learn the most form his failure. In this failure he forgot! He forgot that he was vulnerable. He forgot how human we all are. He forgot the fickle people he was dealing with. And I want you to notice what had happened at the beginning of this chapter. His sister Miriam died. One of the greatest spiritual influences in his life had just died! He was vulnerable! Write this down somewhere….
NEVER ALLOW ANGER TO MAKE A DECISION.
If you are feeling down, tired, vulnerable, broken, weak…back off…keep your mouth closed – don’t do or say something that you will regret!
Psalm 106:32-33
“At Mirabah Israel angered God causing Moses serious trouble
for he became angry and spoke foolishly.”
Notice that the Psalmists said that God was angry too. Anger wasn’t Moses’ problem it was what he did with that anger! He was human…you’re human – we are going to get angry. We are going to get down, depressed, vulnerable, down – HOLD YOUR ACTIONS and HOLD YOUR TONUGE or you will regret it!
Proverbs 29:11
11 A fool gives full vent to his anger,
but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Life has also taught me that following a great success, some victory – we also needs to show some discretion with our mouths and our actions. The enemy loves to take advantage of those unguarded moments when we are feeling UP…to bring us DOWN.
KING DAVID HAD SUCH A MOMENT!
Judges 11 – Jepthah – was on a victory roll! He made a vow to the Lord – if you give me this one last victory…remember his words?
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
And sure enough he “devastated” his enemies – God gave Him amazing victory and he returns home – and…
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."
There’s still good news…although Moses never got to go into the promised land – he did get to see it and he did have some years of faithful ministry left after this.
We all make mistakes – failing doesn’t mean that God is through with you! There’s no doubt about it what we live with the consequences of poor decisions poor commitments, the mistakes we’ve all made – that doesn’t mean that God is finished with us. God still have an incredible plan for your life!
As long as we live on this planet…we will all encounter our Red Seas, (If God doesn’t step in – we’re in trouble!) We all have Manna Moments – where we KNOW that God has provided! There was nothing and now there’s something! God may even use YOU in a Manna Moment for someone else!
And we do have Jesus Christ who came into this world and lived His life for us. We do experience his intervention in our lives. We’ve been healed. We’ve seen and participated in the miraculous, we’ve witnessed his amazing timing in our lives! He’s comforted us, He’s counseled us, guided us, He’s been our defender, our Shepherd…
He wants to be a part of our everyday victories, everyday problems, everyday irritations, and everyday triumphs.
Ephesians 3:18-19
“May you have the power to understand as all God’s people should how wide, how long, how deep His love really is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is so great that you’ll never fully understand it.”
Opportunity for Salvation
Prayer
Closing