The Same Man

Reading: Acts 7; Psalm 83

35 And so God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected by demanding, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, Moses was sent to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many miraculous signs and wonders, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and back and forth through the wilderness for forty years. (Acts 7:35-36 NLT) The man God sent back as ruler and redeemer of his enslaved people, the man named Moses who performed mighty, never before and never-since-seen miracles, the man who figures as one of the greatest leaders in history…
• Is the same man whose sense of justice drove him to a botched attempt to rescue an enslaved, abused Israeli and become a fugitive from the court of Pharaoh.
• Is the same man who was rejected by his Israeli people when he tried to mediate their grievances with each other.
• Is the same man who had lived so long as a sheep-herder for his father-in-law that he had given up all hope or ambition to try and make the world better.
• Is the same man who had so little self-confidence left that he carried a list of compelling reasons he couldn’t accomplish anything worth-while with his life.
• Is the same man who appeared alive on the Transfiguration Mountain centuries later with Jesus and Elijah talking with Jesus about his mission to redeem mankind.
• My point is, This Is Moses, The Same Man! Have you botched an attempt to do something worthwhile, been rejected by those you tried to help, lost the passion to make a difference, lost every shred of self-confidence you ever had, and resigned yourself to merely living out your days until your heart stops beating? Moses had! But add in a fresh encounter with God, a new sense of his holiness and greatness, a challenge and stirring of God’s Spirit to meet a need and make a difference, and who knows what could happen? This Same You can do something great for God! Prayer: Father, Today I’m picturing men and women reading this devotional who have failed, been rejected, become discouraged, lost the passion, resigned themselves to mostly joyless living. Please call them to holy ground, set their hearts afire, give a fresh challenge, answer their objections, and re-commission them for world-changing, difference-making service. Like you did with This Same Moses. In Jesus’ Name.