LOOK:

There are some truths found in today’s Scripture of what not to do when our lives are going from bad to worse:

• Don’t assume you’ve done something wrong.
• Don’t assume your leader is to blame just because you’re circumstances are worse
• Don’t assume that just because you’re faithful to God means your life won’t have challenges.So what are some attitudes that we should maintain when life goes from bad to worse?
• God is trustworthy

Remember Rom 8:28 – “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord who are called according to His purposes.”

LOOK:

Rhetorical Q: If God presented to you an Evite for a God-sized task, what have you learned about God that would give you the confidence to click “YES?”

• God is patient while we sort through His invitation to go on a God-sized adventure with Him.
• God empowers whoever He calls, and the evidence of God’s power is observable to others.
• God will give us the words to share and teach us what we need to know.

Another thought: Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. We need to be reminded that when Moses was invited to do a God-sized task of being the leader of the Israelites, he had proven himself to be a faithful follower of God in his earlier years while being a prince in Egypt. When he moved to Midian, married, and settled down, he humbly served as a shepherd. He was faithful in whatever roles God gave Him.

This principle is still true today. So as you read this storyline, remember that the invites you will get from the Lord will represent the level of faithfulness you have already shown to Him with other roles He’s given you.

LOOK:

Do you have an Evite from God calling you to do something larger than yourself? Larger than your education? Larger than your life experiences? Larger than your work experience? Larger than your belief in yourself? Larger because of the time commitment required? If the invitation to do something extraordinary wasn’t larger than ourselves, then why would we “need God?” What kind of calling is that? What if I told you that His call will always be larger than ourselves?

There are plenty of Scripture passages that remind us that anything He calls us to do is never done in our strength or flesh. John 15:1-5 reminds us that Jesus is the true vine and we are the branch. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. In Phil 1:6 Paul reminds us that we can be confident that “he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” In I Thess 5:24 we read that “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. How many times does He remind us of His promise to never leave us or forsake us?

It’s time to click “YES.” When God calls us, it’s because He already had a plan to use us to accomplish His purpose or will to advance His kingdom. I marvel at the fact that God uses our past to prepare us for our future. Do you think it was helpful that Moses got to be raised as the Prince of Egypt and to get the best education available? Do you think it was coincidental that Moses accepted with humility being a shepherd over a few sheep in a Gentile land? Nothing that happens in our lives goes to waste. He calls us at His appointed time with the appointed task He’s giving us. Our sense of readiness is not what He looks at! If God waited on us to feel “ready,” none of us would get His invitation to accomplish something extraordinary with His presence and His empowerment. His plan was already made in advance as we talked about last week, so the question becomes, “Are you willing to accept what He has for you?”

Please click “YES!”

LOOK:

We serve a sovereign God who has chosen to reveal His love story to us. And for every person He has created, we are a part of this story. Today we see the fulfillment of God’s word to Abram 400 years prior to the Israelites enslavement in Egypt. We see midwives who embrace their place in God’s story. We see God’s chosen leader, Moses, born and entrusted into Pharoah’s palace. God divinely acted in each of these situations. He’s doing the same for us. If your chapter is hard, He’s divinely seeing you through it. If it is a happy chapter, don’t forget that God is divinely seeing you through it.

Reflection Qs: Are you willing to embrace your place as we go through different chapters in our lives? Will you trust His benevolence through each chapter? (Rom 8:28) Look again to God’s Word to you: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11)