I love comeback stories. Most of us do. The plot lines are always similar. Bad things have happened, maybe from the beginning. Someone is counted out, and no believes in their future. Tragedy happens and sets a journey back – and then, all of a sudden, the picture changes. A cataclysmic event starts a new season and direction – and before we know it, everything is different.
Spiritually speaking, we sometimes feel that our past holds us back so badly, there is no real future. We think we’ve done something God cannot get past. We may feel He’s done with us. Have you been there? If so, this book is for you. God’s Not Done With You is filled with biblical comeback stories – where the main characters wondered if God was finished with them. I love that there are so many that we can come to know who now have the testimony that God was NOT finished with them. We begin with one of the biggest. The life of Moses. Most of us know who Moses is, but did you know his life is told in three seasons? Just about everyone knows about season 1, where he was put in a wicker basket on the Nile and rescued by the Pharaoh’s daughter. That’s told in just 15 verses in Exodus 2. Most of us know about season 3, where God uses Moses to set the Israelites free. It’s an amazing lesson in history and in the power of a Sovereign God, but there an interesting interlude in between. Are you aware of season 2? The one in the middle? This is what I call the 40-year dark season of Moses’ life, where he is on the backside of the desert. He has committed murder in an angry retaliation for the mistreatment of his people but has to run for his life. “But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.” Exodus 2:15 Nobody makes movies about this season. It’s too dark and painful. Overcome with regret and sorrow, Moses is wandering alone. He remembers that God had rescued him as an infant, and he recalls favor from the Lord, but now I think he’s too discouraged and regretful to see what God has next. I’m convinced this is a season of many tears. Eventually, Moses lands in a place where no one else can find him. But God knows where he is. And God knows how to get his attention. Most of us have done things we regret. Sometimes we’ve acted out in anger. I know I have. I wish I could take words back, remove the effects of actions I’ve taken, people I’ve hurt. Anger can ruin, but God can rescue. I learn this from Moses’ life! There’s a bigger picture going on in Moses’ life that he’s completely unaware of. He doesn’t see that God is still going to use him. He’s doesn’t know that he’s being prepared for bigger things than he’s ever imagined. WHAT IF we could see that every dark season has a redemptive piece to it where God is going to use what we don’t think He can use? New seasons begin with new encounters. That’s what the burning bush is all about. God is getting Moses’ attention and he’s going to give him a new assignment. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush…”. Exodus 3:2 Think about what that experience must have been like for Moses. Wouldn’t you have turned aside to look at the bush, just like Moses did? There are so many things the scripture teaches us this encounter with God – but they are better caught than taught. What God teaches Moses, He yearns to teach us, but we have to give Him our attention. And Moses does it right – you must read it for yourself in Exodus 3. However, there is one thing I want to urge you to do right now. Allow me to PUSH you, to URGE you to have a new encounter with God and allow Him to speak into your future – no matter what your past is like. Don’t look for a burning bush – look for His written words in the Bible. Don’t wait for the backside of the desert. Open your heart and mind to Him now. Let me tell you what I’ve learned. In my years, I rarely remember what other people say to me in the way of direction and advice. But I never forget what I hear God say to me in my most difficult and dark times. And every time He speaks, it’s the beginning of something powerful. It might be that right here and now, God is making you aware that He’s not done with you. Stick around to experience what God has planned.
2 Comments
Bennett Byther
3/3/2023 04:59:30 am
Thank you pastor! Fantastic message of hope!
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Cheng Saephan
7/22/2024 06:01:30 pm
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