Introduction:
In the eleventh century, King
Henry III of Bavaria grew tired
of court life and the pressures
of being a monarch. He made application
to Prior Richard at a local monastery,
asking to be accepted as a contemplative
and spend the rest of his life
in the monastery. "Your Majesty,"
said Prior Richard, "do you
understand that the pledge here
is one of obedience? That will
be hard because you have been
a king."
"I
understand," said Henry.
"The rest of my life I will
be obedient to you, as Christ
leads you."
"Then
I will tell you what to do,"
said Prior Richard. "Go back
to your throne and serve faithfully
in the place where God has put
you." When King Henry died,
a statement was written: "The
King learned to rule by being
obedient."
When we tire of our roles and
responsibilities, it helps to
remember God has planted us in
a certain place and told us to
be a good accountant or teacher
or mother or father. Christ expects
us to be faithful where he puts
us, and when he returns, we’ll
rule together with him.
Steve Brown, Key Biscayne, Florida.
Transition:
We live in an age where many hold
to the old motto: "Don’t
fence me in." That is, they
do not want to be told what to
do, how to do it, muchless where
and when to do it.
There is a problem with authority
today whether it be in the home,
school or the workplace. Today,
many have grown tired and bored
with their job as well as their
role in society. They always look
for shortcuts and an easy way
out.
Many question God and His love...."Lord,
if You truly loved me, You wouldn’t
keep me in a place or situation
like this." They assert that
adverse conditions means that
God doesn’t
love or care about them.
That simply is untrue. Oftentimes,
God will place us in less desirable
situations in order to use us
to accomplish His purpose and
will in the lives of those around
us.
All to often, we short-circuit
God and His plan by asking Him
to deliver us out of those circumstances.
We may even question whether we
truly heard from God. Surely God
wouldn’t place
me in this situation.
Well, in our text today, we read
about a man whom God has placed
in an undesirable situation. Keep
in mind that Moses had been out
in the wilderness for 40 years.
In that 40 year period, God was
molding and stretching Moses in
order to make him able and available
to lead the nation of Israel out
of Egyptian bondage.
Let’s take a
closer look at the call of God
in the life of this great leader.
Notice that within the call of
God in our lives:
I. God Calls Us In The Right Place…(vs.
1-3)
A. When we are busy.
B. When we are alone.
C. When we are in worship.
II. God Calls Us To The Right
Attitude…
(vs. 4-6)
A. Humility
B. Submission
C. Urgency
D. Faith
E. Obedience
III. God Calls Us At The Right
Time… (vs.
7-12)
A. When God Is Ready
1. God is with us in times of
trouble.
2. God sustains us in times of
trouble.
3. God instructs us in times of
trouble.
B. When We Are Ready
1. We must be broken.
2. We must be listening.
3. We must be willing.
Conclusion:
Roger Staubach who led the Dallas
Cowboys to the World Championship
in ’71 admitted
that his position as a quarterback
who didn’t call
his own signals was a source of
trial for him. Coach Landry sent
in every play. He told Roger when
to pass, when to run and only
in emergency situations could
he change the play (and he had
better be right!).
Even though Roger considered coach
Landry to have a "genius
mind" when it came to football
strategy, pride said that he should
be able to run his own team.
Roger later said, "I faced
up to the issue of obedience.
Once I learned to obey there was
harmony, fulfillment, and victory."
Source Unknown.
