The Old Testament is full of stories of God’s saving power, redemption, and grace. Moses, a Hebrew/Israelite, grew up in the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh (leader/king) as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. While he lived as a prince, his people, the Hebrews, lived as slaves making bricks of mud and straw for Pharaoh’s building projects. One day as Moses was visiting the area where his people were working, he saw an Egyptian taskmaster brutally beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Moses was angered by what he saw. When no one was around, Moses found the taskmaster, killed, and buried him in the sand. After Moses realized that his crime had been witnessed and the Egyptians were seeking him, he ran from Egypt and began a new life in a place called Midian.
Forty years later, after Pharaoh had died, Moses is watching over sheep and sees a strange phenomenon. He sees a burning bush that does not destroy the bush. God calls out to Moses to approach and take off his shoes because the ground is holy. Moses obeys and God calls him to return to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery to a promised land filled with milk and honey. Moses asks God, who should I say sent me, and what if the Israelites do not believe me? God tells him what to say and gives him the power to perform miracles so the people can see that God is with him. Still hesitant, Moses says that he is a stutterer and cannot speak as a leader. Although God tells him that He will help him, Moses asks God to choose someone else. Angered, God finally tells Moses, fine, He will have Moses’ brother, Aaron come and meet him and Aaron will speak for Moses. Moses and Aaron meet after 40 years, Moses tells Aaron everything God has told him. Moses, at the age of 80 returns to Egypt and so begins the journey called Exodus of the children of Israel from slavery and Egypt to freedom and a promised land.
How many times have you allowed your past mistakes or sins to haunt you and condemn you so you feel that you are not worthy to become anything but mediocre or a failure in life? Perhaps you had a dream for a business or a calling on your life to be something specific, but you think God is mad at you and you have to continue to pay for your mistakes. Perhaps your confidence keeps getting knocked down because you may still be suffering the consequences of your mistakes and sins.
Moses killed a man, hid his sin, and ran away from Egypt’s death penalty. God had a purpose for Moses, to lead his people out of slavery into freedom and into their own land. Moses could have become the next Pharaoh had he not killed the Egyptian taskmaster in secret. Although Moses took things into his own hands, God still used Moses, 40 years later to accomplish His plan. Moses had a lot of time to mature and master his negative emotions. When you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior of your life, your sins are forgiven and God does not hold that against you. God can even use your mistakes and turn them around for your good. God wants you to be willing to follow His calling and depend on Him to help you in everything you do. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Jer. 29:11)
Prayer for the week:
Dear Heavenly Father, I am praying over this individual's week ahead. I pray that they remember that they are loved by you unconditionally no matter what, faults in all. None of us are perfect lord and we can come to you when we make mistakes or feel bad about the choices we made. I pray that they have the courage this week to step up and keep believing in your goodness over their life and that they have a blessed week in Jesus name amen!
-Dayne
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Past Mistakes Do Not Define Your Future - Exodus 2 and 3