COMEBACK STORIES: MOSES

EXODUS 2-4

 

Bernie Marcus was the son of a poor Russian cabinetmaker in Newark, New Jersey.  In 1978, he was fired from a do-it-yourself retail store called HANDY DAN.

 

Bernie teamed up with a guy named Arthur Blank, and they decided to start their own business.  They opened their first store in Atlanta, GA.  Maybe you’ve heard of their business.  It’s called HOME DEPOT.  That’s a great comeback story!

 

We’re looking at great comeback stories in the Bible.  Stories of people who comeback after a setback.  Their stories inspire hope in us that God can give us comebacks after our setbacks.

 

Sometimes we need a comeback because life has set us back.  We saw that last week when we looked at Joseph’s comeback story.  His story illustrated 2 things for us:

 

1. Our comebacks will always be stronger than our setbacks.
2. Our setbacks often set us up for our comebacks.

 

But sometimes we need a comeback because we’ve set ourselves back.  Years ago, there was a comic strip character named POGO.  Pogo was famous for saying- “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

 

Sometimes, when it comes to our setbacks, we are our own worst enemy.  Sometimes the setbacks in our lives are the results of bad decisions that we make and dumb things that we do.  Sometimes our setbacks are the result of our sins and failures.

 

And in this series, we’re going to look at several Bible characters who needed a comeback because of their sin.  People like David, Peter, the thief on the cross, and Paul.

 

And the guy in the comeback story we are going to look at today:  MOSES

When we think of Moses, we usually only think of the great man he was and the great things he accomplished:

• Leading the Israelites out of Egypt
• Parting the Red Sea
• Receiving the Ten Commandments

 

  Moses is the most revered figure in the Jewish religion.  And on top of all that, Moses bore a striking resemblance to CHARLETON HESTON.

 

But Moses needed a comeback.  Let me set the stage on why Moses needed a comeback.

 

The Israelites are living in Egypt.  Joseph and his brothers had died.  But Israel was growing into a large nation within the nation of Egypt. 

 

And a new Pharaoh came into power.  And Joseph meant nothing to him.  He felt threatened by how large the nation of Israel was getting.  So, he decided to do two things to control them.  One was to enslave them.  The other was to have all male babies killed upon birth.

 

But when Moses was born, his mother hid him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile River.  There he was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted Moses and raised him as her own son.

 

So, before Moses was the leader of Israel, he was a prince growing up in Pharaoh’s palace.  Now we come to the point in Moses’ story where he is going to need a comeback.

 

EXODUS 2:11-15

 

Moses was outraged at this injustice.  I get that.  You probably do too.  But Moses did something he shouldn’t have done.  He took justice into his own hands.  He made himself judge, jury, and executioner.

 

Moses was guilty of murder.  And he becomes a fugitive from justice.  Pharaoh put a bounty on his head.  Dog the Bounty Hunter is looking for Moses. 

Moses is public enemy # 1 in Egypt. Moses was at the top of Egypt’s Most Wanted List.  There were posters put up in every law enforcement station and every post office in Egypt with Moses’ mug on them.  WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.

 

Moses’ sin is why he needed a comeback.  And even though Moses is done with Egypt, God isn’t done with Moses. 

 

God is the God of Second Chances, fresh starts, and new beginnings.  He gave all those to Moses.  And Moses’ comeback story tells us that God will give those to us as well.  Let’s look at Moses’ comeback story.  From Moses’ story we learn that…..

 

1.GOD IS PLANNING YOUR COMEBACK

 

Moses would spend the next 40 years of his life in the desert of Midian as a shepherd.  And then one day Moses sees a very strange sight.

 

EXODUS 3:1-10

 

God called Moses to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage.  What did that mean?  First of all, it meant that God had forgiven Moses for his sin just like he forgives us for ours.  Forgiveness is always the key to our comebacks when we sin.

 

But it also meant that God was planning to give Moses a comeback!  While Moses spent 40 years in the desert tending sheep, God was planning Moses’ comeback.  And by his grace, God called Moses to serve him.

 

God uses imperfect, sinful, fallen people.  Just look at the roll call of Bible heroes:

• David committed adultery & murder & yet he is called a man after God’s own heart
• Peter denied Jesus & yet Jesus restored Peter to ministry
• Paul started out persecuting the church until Jesus called Paul into the ministry

 

Bible heroes are fallen people.  God always uses imperfect people to fulfill his perfect will.  That’s all he has to work with.  It’s like Wayne Smith used to say-“If only the perfect birds sang, the forest would be silent.”

 

I’ve got good news for you.  Your sin and failure do not mean that God doesn’t love you; he still does.  It doesn’t mean that he won’t forgive you; he will.  And it doesn’t mean that God can’t use you to serve him.  He can.

 

There’s a great song by Danny Gokey called-“HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET.”  It speaks of the breakthrough that God brings to us when we’re going through difficulties.  One line says-“He had the solution before you had the problem.”  Parts of the chorus go like this:

 

“It’s like the brightest sunrise Waiting on the other side of the darkest night.

Don’t ever lose hope, hold on and believe.  Maybe you just haven’t seen it yet. 

 

“You’re closer than you think you are

 Only moments from the break of dawn

All his promises are just up ahead

Maybe you just haven’t seen it

Haven’t seen it yet

 

The same is true when it comes to our comeback from sin and failure.  God is working on your comeback the moment you sinned.  You just can’t see it yet.  Your comeback is coming.  God wasn’t done with Moses.  And he’s not done with you.

 

Here is the second thing we can learn about our comeback from the story of Moses……

 

2.GOD IS PREPARING YOU FOR A COMEBACK

 

Moses’ life can be divided into three 40-year segments:

• 40 years in the palace
• 40 years in the desert tending sheep
• 40 years leading the nation of Israel to the Promised Land

It was that second 40-year period that God used to prepare Moses for his comeback.  First of all, it was a time of refining Moses’ character.

 

I think that Moses learned humility as a result of his failure.  After all the Bible does say that Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth.

 

Think about it.  Moses went from prince to fugitive.  He went from the palace to the desert.  He went from being a somebody to being a nobody.  Nobody in the desert of Midian was bowing down to Moses.  This had to be a lesson in humility that Moses needed to learn, a lesson he needed to learn if he was going to be the spiritual leader of Israel.

 

The consequences of our sins and failures have a way of humbling us.  God will use those to get our attention.  Someone once said that we often don’t look up until we’ve been knocked down.

 

The Bible says that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The lessons in humility we learn from our failures prepare us for a comeback.

 

I believe that God also used Moses’ circumstances to help prepare him for the task God was calling him to.  Moses was going to spend 40 years leading the nation of Israel through the desert to the Promised Land.  What better place to prepare Moses for that journey than to spend 40 years tending sheep in the desert?   There he would become well acquainted with the rigors of desert life that he would not have been accustomed to growing up in the palace.

 

God can use less than ideal circumstances to prepare us for a comeback and what he is preparing for us to do. 

 

Chuck Colson was special counsel to President Richard Nixon.  He was known as Nixon’s hatchet man.  He was named as one of the Watergate Seven.  He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and served 7 months in federal prison for Watergate-related crimes.

 

But in 1973 Colson became a Christian.  His mid-life conversion to Christ led him into Prison Ministry.  His ministry, Prison Fellowship, is the nation’s largest Christian ministry serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families.  The Lord used Colson’s time in prison to prepare him for prison ministry.  Now, that is a GREAT comeback story!

 

Your sin and failure may have brought about a less ideal situation into your life.  It may be hard for you.  And you have to live with the consequences.  But God can use them to prepare you for a ministry and a better life down the road.

 

God prepares all of us for a comeback at one time or another.  And the good news is that God is the author of our comeback stories.

 

EXODUS 3:11-12

 

Moses was hesitant to accept God’s call to free his people.  He felt like he wasn’t up to the task.  He felt inadequate.  He probably had doubts that he could serve God after what he had done.

 

But God reassured Moses that he would be with him.  The Lord would go with Moses and empower him to bring his people out of Egypt.  Moses didn’t pull off his comeback.  God did it for him.  God planned Moses’ comeback and he prepared him for it.  And when it came time to make the comeback happen, it was God who made it happen.

 

Comebacks are not a do-it-yourself project.  Your comeback story won’t be an autobiography.  It will be a biography.  God is the one who is writing your comeback story.  He is the one who will bring it about. 

 

God redeems our situations and our sin.  He takes whatever mess we find ourselves in and turn it into a ministry.

 

Your comeback story doesn’t depend on you.  It depends on God. Philippians 2:13 says:

 

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” -Philippians 2:13

 

God is working in your life.  He has a purpose for your life.  And since your comeback is something that God orchestras, it will happen.  All you need to do is to align yourself with God’s will and God’s word.

 

Here’s a final lesson about our comeback stories…..

 

3. GOD WILL USE OTHER PEOPLE TO HELP YOU IN YOUR COMEBACK

 

God is the one leading your comeback.  And often times he brings other people into your life to support you in your comeback.  He did that for Moses.

 

 God reassured Moses that he would be with him.   God performed miraculous signs to convince Moses that he would empower Moses to free the Israelites.

Still Moses was unsure. 

 

Moses was the biggest excuse maker in the world.  He had come up with all sorts of excuses as to why he wasn’t the man for the job.  And one of the excuses was that he wasn’t a good public speaker. He wouldn’t be able to come up with the words to convince the Israelites to follow him.

 

We can all relate to that one, can’t we?  We all have fears and public speaking is one of them.  When it comes to fears that people have, death is # 2 on the list, and public speaking is # 1 on the list.

 

Moses was afraid he wouldn’t be able to persuade the Israelites.

 

EXODUS 4:10-16

 

To help Moses in his comeback, God assigned Aaron to be his mouthpiece.

 

God puts other people in our lives to help us when we need a comeback.  He puts people in our lives to encourage us, support us, and at times, hold us accountable when we need that.

 

That’s one reason why God gives us our church family.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 says:

 

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

 

Your comeback journey may be a long one.  But it doesn’t have to be a lonely one.  Let your church family come alongside you and love on your and support you as God writes your comeback story for you.

 

Sometimes we have setbacks because we have sinned.  And that’s why we have a Savior.  He died for our sins so we could have a spiritual comeback.  He died to forgive us and free us from the presence, power, and penalty of sin.

 

Romans 6:23 says:

 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

 

If you need the comeback of forgiveness, I invite you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  If you need a church family to love you and encourage you, I invite you to become a member of our church family.  If you need to make one of those decisions, I invite you to come forward while we stand and sing our commitment song.