Exodus: Letting Go
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Teaching my dog impulse control
Leave it.
Leave it.
what a skill that is for my dog…when he can leave it on his own
the things that will lead him to trouble
the things that will take him off track
Tension
If I am to be honest, it’s pretty hard for me to let go of the things too.
Some things seem so much a part of us when God is calling us to take hold of him.
How do we do that?
How can we fully surrender when we are holding on to so many things.
PICTURE
PICTURE
It’s like that scene from the jerk…all i need is this ashtray...
we walk into faith holding on to all sorts of things, and I’m not just talking about our hurts, habits, and hangups; which by the way, we all, every one of us, has.
Dwelling on the past…or the future
Thinking you aren’t ready
Breaking promises
Living up to others expectations
Comparing yourself to others
Complaining
Being self critical
Self doubt
I’m talking too about letting go of our awesomeness…the things we do well, the things that are good or even dare I say, great about us.
being so series
Being entitled
playing it safe
Being right, avoiding mistakes
The things we don’t need
holding on to relationships…especially the unhealthy ones
Being self sufficient
Being in control
I have said before,
Jesus accepts us just as we are, but he refuses to leave us that way.
Jesus accepts us just as we are, but he refuses to leave us that way.
The truth is in order to hold on to Jesus, we have to let somethings go. Not everything, but usually, it is those things that we hold on to most deeply that he expects us to let go of in order to surrender to him.
So,
How do we let go?
How do we let go?
Truth
For the answer to that question I want to look at our text today and where this all came from.
1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Application
In this series, we are going to spend quite a bit of time talking about the first and last verses, so I want to really focus in on the rest of this passage today.
Remember that Pharoah was trying to have all the babies boys killed, and when that didn’t happen, he recruited all the Egyptians into his plot to kill the babies. Everyone was to be hunting out these little infant enemies of the state.
Now Hebrews 11 gives us a bit more context here.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Now it’s probably easy to hide a baby boy for a few days, but after a while, it starts getting awkward; people start to talk. Can you imagine the fear these parents were living with?
But they did, because they saw he was no ordinary child. They defied the kings order.
this wasn’t just he kings order. You see the delivery of the Hebrews was part of God’s plan. Pharoah, as a hand of satan was working against God. So when these parents acted in defiance of Pharoah, they were acting against the intent of Satan himself.
often times this is the way satan works, through fear. If he can’t injure us himself, he uses fear to cripple us so that we limit our own ability to act.
but this mom…who isn’t even named here, defied evil and sought to preserve life. But a time came when she had to do something different. She had to change what obedience to God looked like because circumstances were changing.
She did a very bold thing…by faith…she let go.
Faith leads to letting go
Faith leads to letting go
Faith
we have to really let this sink in. She believed that God had a purpose for her son. She believed it to her core. This faith allowed her to let go of the thing that meant more than life to her.
When our kids were born…crying…emotion as I have never experienced.
And just like I said last week, what we believe determines how we behave.
She, trusting God, AND wanting to protect her son
… a part of her
… put him in a basket
…walked down to the river
… and let go.
Now his sister, didn’t have this sort of faith. She didn’t know God like mom. How do I know? Because she had to go and keep watch. Faith had led mom to put her son in the hands of God.
Before Jesus ever shared with his disciples what it meant to be a disciple, here was mom doing what Jesus longed for his disciples to do
She was living with an eternal perspective, not a temporary one.
Faith enable us to live with an eternal perspective, not a temporary one.
Faith enable us to live with an eternal perspective, not a temporary one.
This is exactly what Jesus was teaching in , in his first sermon on the mountainside, telling his followers...
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matt 6:19-
Mom didn’t hold on to what she had here and now. She trusted God to keep his promise, and that she would hold on to.
Don’t think right now is what’s most important. It’s not. Jesus wants his disciples to have a long view on life.
Would an eternal perspective solve everything for Jocabed? absolutely not.
Was she going to miss that baby? Would she wonder what he was doing? If he had made it? If he was married and had children of his own? Absolutely.
We all know that feelings don’t disappear on their own, but life moves own and we have to move on.
Moving forward starts with a decision.
Jesus asked it this way:
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matt 6:27
Worry and stressing about the evil pharoah wouldn’t change anything. Worrying about when the baby might be taken from her wouldn’t be living at all.
In stead of worrying, she had to do something, she tarred the basket, she wrapped the baby up, she carried him in one arm and the basket in the other all the way down to the river, she searched for just the right place to put the basket, she put him in basket, she gave him one last hug and kiss, then she put the basket down, she let go, then walked away. She did this because she decided to trust God.
had faith that God to th go in order to allow God to save his life and
Faith enables us to make a decision to let go.
Faith enables us to make a decision to let go.
And that’s what mom did here. she decided to. There is no way she would have ever let go of anything, let alone her son if she had not made the decision to.
Matthew
And that’s what mom did here. she decided to. She probably made that decision every step on the way down to the river. There is no way she would have ever let go of anything, let alone her son if she had not made the decision to.
As Jesus reminded his disciples in
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus didn’t say ignore what’s going on, ignore your circumstances. Just seek him first and let God be God.
That’s what faith does.
Faith doesn’t ignore our situation, but acknowledges it.
Faith doesn’t ignore our situation, but acknowledges it.
Jochebed could have decided that she knew her son better than God, she loved him more. SHe could protect and provide better for him that GOd could. Isn’t that what we do with th ethings we hold on to. Nobody could handle this like me…nobody deserves this but me…nobody is as great as me…nobody is as aweful as me.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jochebed sought Go’s will in the midst of her circumstances. She trusted God in the middle of her mess. She wasn’t a victim and she didn’t try to play God.
She acknowledged her situation and stepped out in faith and relied on God to make a miracle out of her mess. GOd you got to show up. God only you can change this.
God you want to rescue your people and I trust you to use my son to do it. I went as far as I can go here. It’s up to you now.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
No just like mom, seek God’s will in the midst of my circumstances. Trust God in the midst of my circumstances. She wasn’t a victim. She acknowledged her situation and responded in faith to her circumstances.
God delivered. He brought the daughter of God’s enemy on the scene.
God is so good. He will use absolutely anything to keep his promises…to work out his plan
Look around you....you might say, they aint much…well God is…he can use whatever he wants. Even those who stand against him to bring about his plan.
We aren’t like Jochebed. Her faith was rooted in the God’s work in Abraham. Scripture doesn’t tell us how she knew Moses was special…or how she knew God would protect her son. But she knew he could.
We aren’t like Jochebed. Her faith was rooted in the God’s work in Abraham. Scripture doesn’t tell us how she knew Moses was special…or how she knew God would protect her son. But she knew he could.
That’s what Peter was talking about
1 eter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
In due time…when the time is right…God just might deliver you right then…or he may wait a little while longer. But the important thing is that we are waiting on God because God can.
Faith that leads to surrender believes God can.
Faith that let’s go believes God can.
Faith that let’s go believes God can.
That’s important for us to hear. That’s the sort of faith that god want to see in us, God wants the sort of faith that believes he can. That’s trust.
God cares about your situation....maybe more than you do. Because he created you, he has a plan for your life that was written way before the creation of the earth.
I said a moment ago that our faith isn’t like Jochebed. That’s because her faith was rooted in the legacy of the Hebrew people, in God’s promise to Abraham.
Our faith is too, but we have additional answered promises. Particularly Jesus.
That God sent his son to die that we might live. That God resurrected his from the dead in order to defeat death that we might live in relationship with him for eternity. That in Christ, God destroyed the eternal effects of sin and by grace is sanctifying us into a reflection of God on earth, little Christs.
That’s what our faith is in.
So in a real way, the degree of our faith determines our ability to let go.
The degree of our faith determines our ability to let go.
This is a wonderful story because Moses lived and the Hebrews were delivered.
So let me ask you, how is your faith?
I would challenge that it is a wonderful story because mom acted in faith, regardless of the outcome.
We love happy endings....but are inspired by conviction, surrender.
That’s the goal of our lives…not to let go, but to live surrendered lives.
Application
That’s important for us to hear. That’s the sort of faith that god want to see in us, God wants the sort of faith that believes he can. That’s trust.
Surrender starts with letting go
Surrender starts with letting go
....not of everything, but those things which are in the way of God’s plan.
What do you need to put in the basket and let go of?
What is it that you trust turning over to God?
a hurt?
a disappointment?
a talent or skill…something you are really good at?
a successful career?
These things may be hard, so maybe don’t start with these hard things.
I approach letting Go to surrender as walking on a limb. When you are up close to the tree, there is little risk of it breaking, but then we walk out further and further, trusting that it will support us.
Same with letting go. Start letting go of something that would be doable. See what happens. Be intentional and ask God to help. Then see what happens. When God helps you with that, then try a bigger rock in your life. See how your faith grows. As you keep trusting God, your faith will grow and eventually you will be able to throw open your arms in full surrender to Jesus.
Inspiration
This Exodus story is wonderful because Moses lived and the Hebrew people were delivered.
I would challenge that it is a wonderful story because mom acted in faith, regardless of the outcome.
We love happy endings....but are inspired by conviction, by stories of surrender.
That’s the goal of our lives…not to let go, but to live surrendered lives.
Imagine if our lives were marked by surrender more than the things we hold on to. Imagine who your life might inspire others to take action.
Action
What is it that you trust turning over to God?
a hurt?
a disappointment?
a talent or skill…something you are really good at?
a successful career?