Not an Ordinary Child

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Have you ever wanted to do something for God but it was so big, you kinda hope he says no? Then you can still feel good about your intentional effort but relieved to be off the hook because if God says yes, you know the work involved and it’s more than you’ve ever taken on before. And you know what you can foresee and imagine is only a portion because there is always more cost and more effort, like a building contractor’s estimate.

I love the life of Moses; he’s a great man of God – I mean, he saw God with his own eyes, but he still had foibles. I respect his foibles because it gives me hope there might be some hope for me as well. From his birth, Moses was not an ordinary child (Acts 7:20). Every mother believes it about her child but the difference between Moses and other children is that Moses believed it too.

Everyone has a destiny and a plan for their life to fulfill, no one is meant to just be ordinary but it takes something extra to be more than ordinary. To be extraordinary, you have to believe you are. It’s not puffed up thinking; we should not think of ourselves more highly than we should but we also shouldn’t think of ourselves as less than we are created to be, either.

We know Moses’ story: he was born during a time of infant genocide, but God spared his life by letting him grow up in the palace, having first been nursed by his mother, Jochebed. For the first five years of his life she spoke over his life; perhaps she had a heavenly revelation about Moses’ purpose and his life, but even so she made every moment count.  Jochebed told her son he was going to save his people, the Hebrews, and like every boy who dreams of being a super hero, he sopped it up. The vision continued to grow as he lived in palace.

I believe he had a huge, grandiose dream to be the one to free the Hebrews. He asked God about it, God gave him the green light, so with heart pounding and absolutely terrified that God actually said yes, Moses took matters into his own hands. We know how his first attempt to free the Hebrews finished. Moses ran away disillusioned about his ability to hear from God but also relieved he was excused from the enormous task of leading the Hebrews in a revolt.

Moses correctly perceived his life’s purpose and plan. He was taught from a young age he was going to do something great and he had enough ego to believe he could do it but he incorrectly perceived the time to step out and take hold of what was in his heart. I imagine he thought to himself, “I gave it a go, but thank God it’s not my job to lead the Hebrews from slavery. They’re in God’s hands now.”

Moses aborted the mission call on his life, but God did not. He heard and answered the call of Moses’ heart. Moses knew the task would have been humungous but God knew it was even bigger and it required tempering of his character before Moses would be able to handle the task.

What awesome plans do you have, something so big you’re afraid God might actually say yes to? If you aren’t seeing it happen, perhaps God is tempering you, so you can have the victory because it’s larger than you know. Don’t abort the mission, keep the dream. God placed it in your heart because he wanted you to share in the victory. Finally, be patient and stay alert; God and the angels are working behind the scenes on your behalf.