3 March 2014 by Rev Dr Jai Kumar –
Exodus 3:10
“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
GOD LEADS YOU INTO THE WILDERNESS TO EMPOWER YOU AND NOT TO DESTROY YOU
It is vitally important for us to understand that the wilderness is an important place of GOD’S PREPARATION for ourselves if we are to move forward with God. God often leads us into the wilderness to do the “stripping process”, it’s a place of crushing and breaking and in the process God works and shapes His character in us. Any significant ministry that God has called you to undertake has to go through the preparation process.
If you want to make any headway for God, if you want to flow in the purposes and plan of God, you need to understand that the Kingdom of God is not a smooth sailing journey. You need to go through the valley experience before you can get to the mountain top.
The lack of understanding of God’s purpose for you in the wilderness can lead you into trouble. Jesus Himself was led into the wilderness when He was filled with the spirit and He came out of the wilderness empowered to start His ministry.This is the reason why several men of God with great potentials backslide and fall away and go in different ways because:
No1: They cannot sustain the pressure in the wilderness.
No.2: They miss the significant aim and purpose of God in their lives.
We understand that Moses had spent 40 years to be precise, in the wilderness looking after another man’s sheep in the desert.40 years of wilderness life! 40 years of no word from God has made this man to lose his composition. Everything seemed to have died and gone away. Every dignity and royalty which Moses knew in the palaces of Pharaoh was now covered in the dust of low self-esteem and condemnation. Everything seems to have gone wrong for Moses.
YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES WILL NOT REMAIN THE SAME FOREVER
Then it was just an ordinary day. Just an ordinary morning. God suddenly appears to Moses in a burning bush. Suddenly Moses hears the awesome voice of God speaking to him. It literally blew his analytical mind.
Exodus 3:4
……….God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
You feel like screaming your head off, 40 years of silence! 40 years the Heavens were shut from you! Then suddenly a miracle began to happen in your life. Moses could not believe what he was seeing and experiencing.
The same man who led sheep yesterday, now God tells him to go to Egypt to deliver His people from bondage. A new Moses was born! I believe this was the most crucial and significant moment in the life of Moses. By the way, how did Moses react?
WHEN YOU STAY IN A PLACE LONGER THAN YOU OUGHT TO BE THERE YOU WILL REFUSE TO MOVE FORWARD.
Exodus 3: 12
And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
His reply to God was “It can’t be true, I am not fit to go! I don’t have the capacity to speak and convince these people. I won’t be recognised! You don’t mean me God”. Moses obviously was suffering from “a wilderness mentality”. Moses became so contented that he was unwilling to face any challenges in his life anymore. In fact, he was virtually struggling to reconnect himself to his own destiny.
Can you imagine, 40 years in the desert has apparently transformed this man? Can you believe it? Scientist! Mathematician! Architect! Royalty! Empire builder for Rameses reacting this way?
PAST MISTAKES IF NOT DEALT WITH CONSTRUCTIVELY WILL HINDER YOUR WALK WITH GOD
You know what? I have discovered throughout my ministry, unfortunately many people are unable to move on with God because they are unable to leave their past behind and instead become defensive and never attempted to deal with past disappointments, past failures, past sins and rejections. God wants you to know one thing. The past no longer has any power over your life!
Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH MOSES?
Here is a revelation: Now it is significant that in Moses’ hand was a Shepherd staff and this Shepherd staff signified the life that Moses had lived.
In actual fact the real Shepherd staff in those days was a very solid and powerful weapon in the hands of a Shepherd. A good Shepherd can even kill a Lion or a Bear with it. And this staff is therefore the most lethal and significant instrument for a Shepherd.
God asked Moses a simple question as He noticed Moses leaning heavenly on to this staff. “Moses! What is in your hand? He replied “A staff”. God commanded him to throw it down”
And as Moses threw it to the ground it turned into a snake and Moses began to run from it fearfully.
I am absolutely sure while Moses was looking after the sheep in the wilderness for 40 long years he would killed so many different kinds of snakes in order to protect his sheep. And now the very sight of a single snake has put tremendous fear and he is fleeing from it.
You know why? The staff that he relied and depended so much upon, as his weapon, his shield, his support and protection is no longer in his hands. It is no longer available to him. It is thrown to the ground.
God said:”Moses! Don’t run!” Pick up the snake by the tail! It was a command!
You know what? God was saying to Moses? “Moses, you no longer have your staff in your hand! You no longer can deal with this situation in the natural normal way. You no longer can deal with this situation with your own wisdom and with your own strength!
THE TASK OF GOD REQUIRES TOTAL DEPENDENCE UPON HIM
Moses! If I am going to move you on in my purposes and my plan, as you let the staff go, you got to trust me and my word totally and absolutely.
Come on Moses! You pick it up by the tail! Yes! It may seem ridiculous and illogical to your mind! Yes! It is absolutely contrary to human understanding to pick up the snake by the tail! (The human skill of picking up a snake is not by the tail because if you do that the snake will wipe around and strike you.)
Isaiah 55: 8
Because my ways are different from your ways! My thoughts are higher than your thoughts! Declares the Lord
As Moses obeyed the Lord, and reached down and picked up the snake by the tail, instead of a snake in his hand, it became a rod –a staff. Awesome is our God!
You would discover as you read the following chapters of EXODUS, the staff that Moses picked up, was never again called the staff of Moses. It was called the rod of God!
As Moses was willing to trust God! Despite his frightened mind, despite his limited human wisdom! The thing that he depended upon so heavily, as he let it go and trusted God to pick it up again, God did an amazing miracle.
What he picked up was not what he threw down! He threw down the staff of Moses, the Bible says he picked up the Rod of God. You know what? This Rod became the most significant thing in his ministry.
REMEMBER THAT WHICH WAS HIS, UNTIL HE WAS PREPARED TO LET IT GO, COULD NOT BECOME THAT WHICH GOD COULD USE.
IF YOU DONT LET IT GO, YOU WILL STAY WHERE YOU ARE.
Is God speaking to someone today?
What is that you are holding in your hand right now!? What is it that you have built around your life that you have become so dependent upon that you refuse to let it go? Listen! If you refuse to let it go, you will remain where you are!! You will stay there! I want to tell you today if you don’t throw it to the ground and let it go, you have nothing left.
Moses threw it to the ground and God used him to lead the people of God out of bondage into the Promised Land.
God did not put you into the wilderness to destroy you but to prepare you to move you on into a far greater challenge! A far greater calling! A far greater anointing! A far greater breakthrough!
YOU ARE HAND PICKED BY GOD!
Note: Rev Dr Jai Kumar is an ordained & licensed minister of Covenant Ministries International N.J. USA. He is also the representative of Faith International Bible School for Malaysia & Singapore. He is the founder and senior pastor of Full Gospel Outreach Ministry KL, a member of ECCM, Spiritual Adviser & overseer of Full Gospel Christian Church KL. Co-founder and adviser of Kingdom Christian Fellowship, Subang Jaya, he is also the author of a book entitled, ‘God’s Time Clock.’
References for pictures
http://sojo.net/sites/default/files/mainimages/blog/shutterstock_82838701.jpg
http://www.radionewjerusalem.com/New%20RNJ/burning_bush.jpg
http://b-i.forbesimg.com/amyanderson/files/2013/05/shutterstock_83671597.jpg
http://reneeannsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/moses-rod.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aD09gy4_BBk/TnybAH65DUI/AAAAAAAABAw/9nw6P45JrCs/s1600/numberssnakes.jpg
http://www.garylellis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/comfort-zone.jpg
……never attempted
…..pick up the snake by…..
……people of God …NOT PEOPLE OF A GOD
kindly amend, apologise for any inconvience caused
thanks
Ok. Amendments made. God Bless 🙂
It has been a tough few years walking in the wilderness by the guidance of our LORD. Especially, yesterday, I was feeling too bad about certain good things in my life that I had to lose. This morning as I was looking for something online, I came across this article and your words made me realize how much I need to let those things go from my life. Thank you. May the LORD bless you abundantly and use you more and more. In Christ, Amen.