When God Says Go, You Can’t Say No
I am thankful for the opportunity to speak today.
My prayer is that you are encouraged by the message
And that you will take the next step in your journey with Christ as a result!
Today I am doing a stand alone sermon called, “WHEN GOD SAYS GO, YOU CAN’T SAY NO”
We are going to look at somebody in Scripture who said no to God when God said go, which resulted in this person giving multiple excuses.
We love to give excuses to get out of things that we really don’t want to do.
If you’re a kid in the room, I want to talk directly to you right now.
If you’re a kid in the room, and your parents ask you to clean your room, or take out the trash, or go to timeout, you have probably done one of two things:
- Ignored mom and dad
2: come up with an excuse as to why you can’t do so, such as faked being sick, or told them you’re too busy (playing games), and telling them they can do it.
THE WORST: When mom or dad asks you to give them the remote when they are within reach of it and you’re on the opposite end of the house.
We have all given excuses! Whether it’s an excuse to get out of something we didn’t want to do, or hang out with that person that rubs our cats backwards, It’s something we have all done.
Sometimes we give the craziest excuses to people when we don’t want to do something.
For me, I love to help people, but being transparent, I am very hesitant to say yes to someone if they ask me to help them move.
I have boiled people
There’s two different types of people in this world:
- The organized movers with a plan
- The unorganized movers with no plan at all.
- People who ask you to help move and have everything organized. The people have a system. These people were fully prepared for help. 1-2 hours max. These are my kind of people.
STORY OF MOVING HERE.
- People who don’t have a single thing packed, they expect you to help them pack everything. If you are this person, please don’t be!
I’m going to be hesitant and probably give you some crazy excuse if I suspect that you are this kind of person.
But how many of us love to give the most random excuses when things like this come up in our lives?
EXAMPLE:
- Sorry, My wifes, mom’s, cousin, dog died and I’m just really sad about it.
- Sorry, I’m writing a book.
- Sorry, I’m really sick tomorrow
- Sorry, my car has been acting weird lately.
Reality is, we’ve all given excuses, whether it’s because you don’t want to help someone move, or because someone who pets your cat backwards asks you to hangout. We’ve all been there and we have all given excuses.
The reality is, my fear is that we do the same thing with God.
Today we are going to look at the life of Moses and God’s call in his life and how he responded. As we read today, notice how you and I are just like Moses.
QUICK OVERVIEW: Moses was a shepherd to his father-in-law’s sheep in the land of Canaan. While he was a shepherd, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush.
I imagine that being a shepherd, Moses saw some pretty crazy things happen, all kinds of different animals, storms, and wildlife, but nothing like a random burning bush.
Moses, being intrigued, walks over to this bush and he hears God call him by name.
God tells Moses that he is going to use Moses to fulfill a huge promise that God made to his people. God’s people were named the Israelites, and they were in captivity in Egypt. God hears the Isrealites calling out to God to save them, and he hears them. God made a promise that he would rescue them through Moses.
For Moses, this was no small task. This wouldn’t have been a group of 10 people. This would consist of thousands of people.
Immediately, we begin to see Moses start to give excuses.
Again, as we go through this, notice how much you and I are just like Moses.
EXCUSE 1: I’m not adequate enough.
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” 3:11
For Moses, being a shepherd, he was at the bottom of the social status totem pole.
If you recall earlier, I said that Moses was a shepherd to his Father-in-laws flock. He wasn’t even a shepherd to his own flock! That would’ve meant he was really scraping the bottom of the totem pole.
Moses’ self-esteem would have been really low as a shepherd, and so when God calls him from the burning bush, his first thought is that he isn’t adequate enough.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe your self-esteem is at an all time low, and you think, how in the world could God use me. I’m a nobody. All I do is sit behind a computer all day. I’m in the middle of a divorce. My relationship with my kids is rough.
God responds to Moses in verse 12,
12 “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you.” 3:12
God assures Moses that “I will be with you.” For you and I today, we may feel insignificant, and irrelevant, but God has called you to do something, and he promises that he will be with us!
The God of the Old Testament, is the same God who assures us that he will be with us.
Joshua 1:9 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
If we believe that God is with us, does our life reflect that promise?
EXCUSE 2: I don’t know enough
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
For many of us, we feel like we don’t know enough. One of the reasons that we are fearful of sharing our faith with others, is because we are afraid they will ask a question that we don’t know the answer to.
Moses felt those feelings! Again, God had an answer for Moses.
14 God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.”
This verse can be a little confusing right?
Like no one walks around saying “I am who I am.”
What I love about this verse is that it foreshadows the life of Jesus which we see in the New Testament!
There’s a book called John in the Gospels found in the New Testament, and there are seven “I am” statements for Jesus.
7 “I am” statements for Jesus.
- I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
- I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)
- I am the Door (John 10:9)
- I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
- I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
- I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
- I am the Vine (John 15:1,5)
For you and I, we can’t worry that we don’t have all the answers to life’s toughest questions and all the answers to faith. Whenever we say that we aren’t smart enough or we aren’t capable enough, God says “I AM” Do you believe that today?
EXCUSE 3: People won’t take me seriously.
1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” 4:1
Moses was afraid that people wouldn’t take him seriously. They would ask, who is this guy? Why should we listen to you?
I feel that. Maybe you do too! I was almost kicked out of the college that I graduated from. I discredited myself, because I was thinking, no one would take me seriously in ministry. It’s still bizarre to me that I am standing before you today!
I stand before you humbly today, not because of what I have done, but because of what God has done in my life.
Maybe today, you feel like no one would take you seriously if you shared the truth about Jesus with them. They would look at your life, and think, why should I listen to you?
When you make yourself available for God to use you despite what you think about yourself or what others think about you, you will notice something amazing!
EXCUSE 4: I’m not good with words.
“O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” 4:10
Again, this one hits home for me. One of my biggest fears going into ministry was that I wasn’t very good with words. I stumble over my words all the time.
What’s amazing though is that you don’t have to be perfect for God to use you! God used Moses who had a legit speech impediment to do something great.
What in your life do you believe is your biggest setback to God using you?
No matter what it is, I challenge you to throw it aside, and make yourself available! When Moses stopped making excuses, and made himself available, he used him in a great way.
EXCUSE 5: I’m not willing.
13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
After Moses has given every excuse that he could think of, he gives up by revealing his heart. Moses just wasn’t willing.
Moses revealed that the heart of the problem was a problem of the heart.
His attitude was, “I don’t want to do this.” For us, this is usually the real issue, isn’t it?
We just don’t want to.
What excuses do you make when God calls you?
We need to have a moment in our life, when we say that we surrender everything over to God, and trust that he is who he says that he is.
He’s waiting for us to say YES to him today!
YES THEORY There is a group on Youtube of a group of guys who all live together and make videos, travelling the world, seeking crazy adventures.
Their slogan is SEEK DISCOMFORT.
My favorite video is them asking strangers to go skydiving on the spot. All expenses paid. The only requirement is that you have to drop everything that you are doing and just say YES.
A tonnn of people said no, but one couple stepped up and said YES. At the end, the guy says that that was the coolest experience of his life.
Sometimes it just takes getting out of your comfort zone and saying YES to God.
Will you step out in faith today, and make the decision to say YES to whatever God has planned for your life today?
All of us are at a different point in our walk with Christ, and that’s ok! Examine what your next step is.
Next Steps:
- Give your life to Jesus. Maybe you are sitting here today and you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, I want to encourage you, that is your next step.
The good news of the Gospel is not achieved but believed and received.
You can never work your way to heaven. All you have to do is say YES to Jesus by believing and receiving what has been done for you on the cross.
- Give up your plan for God’s plan. When Moses surrendered over his plan for God’s plan, God did something great through him. Maybe that’s what you need to do today. Maybe you have been living this life according to your great plan. I challenge you today, surrender it all to God, and be amazed at how he uses you.
- Stop making excuses! Maybe you are sitting here today, and you can relate to Moses by feeling inadequate for God to use you, so you make excuses that are hindering you from taking the next step. I want to encourage you to make yourself available. to give it to make yourself available for God to use you, and be amazed at what he can do through you!
Craig Groeshcel said you can make excuses or you can make a difference, but you can’t do both.
So what is your next step?
Let me pray for you as we close out!
PRAYER: Father, thank you for Today. Thank you for your word, and the truth that is in it. I pray that we lay aside our doubts and our fears, and fully trust in the plan that you have for our lives. God, we make ourselves available to you today, to do what you want in our lives.