hen God calls us, we often protest, saying "Who am I?" The better question is "Whose am I?" When God calls us, He says "I will be with you" and that makes all the difference. We're in good hands with God when we forget about our weaknesses and remember His strengths. (Message: Eric Elder; Worship Song: "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" written by Martin Smith, led by Al Lowry and James Olmos; Running time: 30:08)

Lesson 5 - Letting God's Will Overcome Your Won't

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ERIC: Hi, this is Eric Elder and welcome to The Ranch.

Last time we took a look at how God called Moses, and how God wanted to get something done, and He said Moses, now go; I send you to go do this task.

And this week we're going to take a look at something that often happens to me when God will call me to do something and I protest -- I say, who me? Who am I, God, to go do this? And I start looking at all the failures and all the things that I'm going to do wrong and why I am not the guy for this job.

And then God has to come back and remind me exactly why He's called me and what He wants me to do. And more importantly, what His will is in the situation. And once I'm able to get my hands around what He really wants to do again, then I can say okay, as long as you're in it, God, I can do it. But without You, there's no way I could do it.

We're going to see that when we look at Moses tonight. If you ever feel like God is calling you to do something or right now maybe God is speaking to you about something that you need to be doing in your life, and you say "God, I am not the guy for this. I'm not the person to go do this." Well, I hope tonight encourages you that you may very well be the person God has in mind.

So why don't we pick up, we're going to pick up the story. If you haven't read it all, you can catch up on your own there at home, you can pause the tape and read Exodus 3:11 all the way through the end of Chapter 4.

But we're going to just read here in the room -- we're going to start with a few verses in Chapter 3 and then jump right into Chapter 4 and go into this lesson on God calling people.

Al, would you want to start with us on Chapter 3, starting with Verse 10 through 12.

AL: "So now, go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

ERIC: I'm going to stop right there because this really sums it up for us. God calls Moses and then in Verse 11, what did Moses reply? What's his first protest he says.

DEE: Who am I?

ERIC: Who am I? Who am I, who am I, that's right. Who am I? And what does God say back to him in Verse 12? What does God say to that question, who am I? What does God say?

BUD: He'll be with him.

ERIC: I will be with you. I will be with you. He says "Moses, it doesn't really matter who you are, does it? I will be with you."

Have you ever heard it's not about "who" I am, it's about "whose" I am? When God calls us to do something He doesn't always say, "Oh, Al, it's because of who you are." No, He says, "Al, it's because of Whose you are. You belong to me, Al," and when God speaks, and He says, "You are My son and you are Mine and I have called you to do this and I will be with you.

And if you don't remember anything else out of tonight, I feel like that phrase, when God says, "I will be with you," has got to be one of the most comforting phrases to a believer, to someone who is walking in God's plan. And when things start getting rough, or you start getting discouraged, just to know that God says, "I will be with you. I will be with you. I will be with you." And somehow that can make everything all right. And everything you're going through, everything He's called you to do, you can make it as long as you know, "I will be with you."

We're going to pick up and go on through the protests of Moses. There are actually three things at least that Moses protests about. Let's jump over to Chapter 4, and we're going to read Verses 1 through 17 here in the room. As you look through this, just look at these protests that Moses makes. And I sort of love it about him, because he's very human. He's very real. This is not a museum Moses. This is not some statute that you walk around and say, "Oh, wow, there's Moses, like he's this huge museum figure."

When you read this in Chapter 4 he's a very real, very human, very much an honest humble guy who's just not even trying to be humble. He's just flat out honest. He says, "God, this is not me. Try again." So why don't you read this and just look how real Moses is.

Bud, would you want to start on that side of the room? Chapter 4, Verse 1.

BUD: "Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. The Lord said,"Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. "This," said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

ERIC: Ralph, you want to pick it up?

RALPH: "Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.".

Moses said to the Lord, "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

ERIC: Dee, you want to pick up there?

DEE: "The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."

ERIC: Great. So as we look at this, here's Moses and God having this conversation. What's the first protest that Moses makes in Chapter 4 way back in Verse 1?

DEE: What if they don't believe me?

ERIC: What if they don't believe me? What if... And God starts giving him what, to tell him, "All right, try these out. If they don't believe you, try this sign. And if that one doesn't work, try this one. If that one doesn't work, try this one." Then what's the next protest, Verse 10?

DEE: I can't talk right.

ERIC: Not being eloquent, right, not being eloquent. They believe that M-M-M-Moses was a stutterer, that he wasn't eloquent, that he was slow of speech and tongue. Can you imagine being told to go talk to Pharaoh, the king of the land, and you can't even get a word out? And yet here, how does God answer him there? What does God say about Moses' tongue?

DEE: God made you so you can talk and He can make you new. That's basically it.

ERIC: That's right. That's a good paraphrase by Dee. "I gave you your mouth, bud. I'm the one who makes people blind. I'm the one who makes people see. It is I, the Lord, who gives you all the power to do these things." So again, God just refocuses the questions right back and says, "It's not about you, Moses. It's about me and what I'm going to do." And then 13, what does Moses say?

RALPH: Please send someone else.

ERIC: Send someone else. No, really, God.

DEE: That was good answers, but.

ERIC: That's nice, God, but really, send somebody else, okay.

RALPH: He even says please.

ERIC: Please, please, God. Maybe even getting on his knees. Please, God, send somebody else.

I'll tell you, I'm feeling that way about some issues going on in our country right now. I feel like God is calling me to speak and to stand up and to do these things. And I had to call a senator's office today and I'm not a political guy. I don't get involved in these kinds of things very often. But dealing with this same sex marriage issue, I just felt like I needed to call one of our senators who doesn't support the Federal Marriage Amendment.

And, you know, I started getting scared even just picking up the phone to call. And I know I'm just going to talk to an aide, I'm not even going to talk to the guy. And yet I get scared just picking up the phone to call and tell them what I believe and to say that I want him to vote for this, and if he would consider changing his position. And it's hard just for me to stand up and talk to an aide. But I did it. I picked up the phone, made the call, talked to the aide. We were encouraged -- Focus on the Family did a nice broadcast about this a week or so ago -- and said when you get these people on the phone, just keep talking to them and talk to them and talk to them. By the end of the day they'll say, you know what, these people just wouldn't even let me hang up the phone; they're so adamant about this issue. And so I tried to keep him on the phone as long as I could, and just explain it and talk about where I was coming from, and why I was there. But boy, I get petrified doing it.

And yet I have to remember that God's will is stronger than my won't. God's will is stronger than my won't. And when God says, "I want this done," and if I look up at Him and say "I won't do it," if I come back and think about it for a while, I say, "Okay, God, if this is your will" -- which you know His will means He will do it -- God wills something to happen, He says I will do this, I want to do this, I will make this happen.

So that is God's will. What is God's will? Well, it's what He will do. So His will is very strong. And if we're willing to surrender and submit to that, then our won'ts don't really matter so much, and we can say all right, God, I'll just do it. Little things -- time after time -- God will say, "Do this."

I've had a pastor friend in another town that I went to, and he was very against some of the things that I believed in strongly. One of them that to me is basic is Promise Keepers. This is when Promise Keepers was first coming out, and I thought Promise Keepers was a pretty cool thing -- great. I took guys and they were getting saved and just all kinds of great things happening. This pastor said, "I don't know about that Promise Keepers. That's pretty dangerous stuff, and they're really doing this with guys and you know, what about the women," and all these questions that he had. And I don't know what he'd been reading, but I just felt like God was saying, "Eric, you just keep talking to him about what your experience is with it and what it's like." And I did. I just kept talking and talking; and over time he went to Promise Keepers and now he takes guys to Promise Keepers all the time --now he's one of the strongest advocates of Promise Keepers.

And there were some other issues in his life as well that I just felt like God put me there to talk to him about, and I didn't really want to. I didn't want to force these issues. It wasn't important to me that this happened. But it was important to God it seemed. And so I was talking to this guy about some of these other issues. Well, here I move to Streator and there's a pastor here in town that I talk with and all of a sudden, these same concerns come up about various issues that I'm talking about, and he's concerned and he's very concerned and very concerned about this and this and this. I just say, "Oh, God, do I need to go through this again and talk to him about this issue?"

And I love it when pastors or other people will talk to me about issues and say, "Eric, have you thought about that? Will you think about that again?" And over time when I come to their position and when I can see that God really is in it, I'm so appreciative and so thankful that people have spent the time with me to help me understand why these things are important. So it encourages me to go back to these other people and say, "God, I do believe that you've called me to share with this guy about this particular issue."

And so maybe there are people in your life that God is calling you to talk to or to share with or to stand up for something that you believe in. Maybe you need to call somebody, or maybe you need to just let somebody know something. It might be hard, but God is calling you to do this and His will continues to make itself known.

And my question for us tonight is, will we surrender to His will, or will we let our won'ts prevail?

I want to read something that was found on the Internet, which, of course, must be true since we found it there. But it's about whose hands we're in.

It depends on whose hands we're in.

A basketball in my hand is worth about $19.

A basketball in Michael Jordan's hand is worth about 33 million.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A slingshot in my hand is a kid's toy.

A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hand is a couple fish and sandwiches.

Two fish and five loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hand might produce a birdhouse.

Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.

It depends whose hands it's in.

And you see now, it depends whose hands it's in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families, and your relationships in God's hands, because it depends whose hands it's in.

I think we can always look at our qualifications and just feel like we're not going to be able to do it. But I think if we take a look at God, we can always realize that He can do it. And when He says, "I will be with you," those are tremendous words.

There are a couple other little things I want to bring out in here. And they're little only because I'm putting them at the end, but they're actually the major emphasis of this whole study. Because there are three things that God's says in these passages here in Chapter 3 and 4. Even though we looked at three things that Moses was protesting about, there are at least three things that God promises in this chapter.

I want to look at one back in Verse 12 of Chapter 3. This is what's going to sustain Moses through all this ordeal. God was setting the people free for a reason. Do you remember what that reason was? We talked about it a couple weeks ago. God sets us free for a reason. What does he set us free for?

DEE: So that they can go worship Him.

ERIC: To go worship Him, right. To go worship Him. Look in Verse 12. When Moses protests in Verse 11 and says who am I, God says in Verse 12, I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. You will worship God on this mountain. There's one of the first wills that God says is going to happen. You will worship me on this mountain.

And I believe that will sustain Moses through this whole time. And eventually that does come to pass and we will see that they do go. And not to give away the story here, but they do get to the mountain and they do worship God. God's will is very strong.

Here's another thing that we didn't read here in the room tonight, but you might have read it if you read Chapter 3 on your own. Listen what's going to happen in Verse 21 of Chapter 3. Someone want to read that?

Ralph, do you have Chapter 3, Verse 21 and 22.

RALPH: "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothings, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

ERIC: Look at that. At least three times, four times in there He says, I will do this, I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed. It says you will get the gold and silver which you will put on your sons and daughters and you will plunder the Egyptians. You will not go empty handed. Four times in there that God says I will do this, this will happen.

And this is a pretty remarkable thing. Here are these slaves, totally slaves, totally in bondage, and God's telling them they're going to leave Egypt, not only free, but with all the plunder, with all the stuff, with trinkets around their arms and their necks, and they're going to plunder the Egyptians. That's a pretty strong promise for God to say. But we'll see as we go on in Exodus that that is going to happen as well. God's will is very strong.

Here's one more in Chapter 4 that's going to happen. Look in Verse 21 through 23. Dee, would you mind reading that, 21 through 23?

DEE: "The Lord said to Moses,"When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son."

ERIC: Then we have a bunch of wills. That's perfect. A bunch more wills of God. God says I will harden his heart. He will not let the people go. He says he will refuse and at the end he says so I will kill his firstborn son.

Even with all the plagues that God tries to give his warnings and all the things that precede that, God already knows what is going to happen and He declares it. And He says I will kill his firstborn son. Because Israel was my firstborn son and Pharaoh will not let him go.

So here Moses gets these three promises from God: where God says you're going to worship me on this mountain, you're going to leave Egypt with all kinds of plunder, and the firstborn son of Pharaoh will die. Those are pretty strong promises. And we'll see that God convinces Moses, and Moses finally surrenders and says, "Yes, God, I will do it. I want to do your will."

And so I hope for us tonight that God will put this in our hearts that His will can always be stronger than our won't. And when God's calls us to do something that we won't give up, but we'll continue to remember His promises and say, God, if you're in this and if you will be with me, I will go do it. I will go do it.

Does this bring up anything that's on your mind even tonight? I don't know if God's speaking to you about any particular thing that you need to be doing or God wants you to do. But if He does I'd be interested to hear what God might be doing.

RALPH: Well, we've been getting kind of busy, and God's been telling me to slow down and spend more time with Him, talking to me lately about that.

ERIC: That's good.

RALPH: Especially during the summer hours when there's more daylight, you think you have to do more things, and you really don't have to.

ERIC: That's such a key thing, too, to unlocking all the other things He wants us to do. If we spend our time with Him and fellowship with Him and enjoy Him, that can really carry us through all kinds of other things.

I'd like to take a few minutes to worship God. And since the point of being free is to really come to Him and to worship Him, I think it's great that every week we have a chance to worship Him as well. So we're going to do a song, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, with Al and James who are going to lead us again this week. If you want just to sing out to God and just remember the promises that He has for us, that He will do these things in our life.

And mainly I just want to say don't let discouragement creep into your life. Don't let that discouragement and that doubt about your lack of qualifications and your wondering about yourself and saying oh, I'm just so pathetic, I'm just messing things up right and left here. Because in a lot of ways, it's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about us. It's about God and His will, and He will be with us.

So that's a great thing to sing about. Why don't we sing I Could Sing of Your Love Forever.

(Worship Song: "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" written by Martin Smith, led by Al Lowry and James Olmos. Used by permission.)

ERIC: Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much that your will is so strong. And I pray, God, that you would speak to us what your will is in so many of the situations we're facing right now. God, whether this is today that we're watching this, or whether this is a few years from now after we've taped it, that someone might be watching this, Lord, I pray that you would speak into their hearts right now, that you would speak to us, God, and let us know what your will is. And, God, when we throw up our won'ts, that we would be able to see that it's not about us, but it's all about you, and what you want done on the earth.

Lord, when we say who am I, I pray that you'd help us to say whose am I. And when we remember that we're yours, that that would help carry us through. Lord, when we say we can't do it or we're slow of speech or please, just send someone else, Lord, I pray that you would remind us and speak in our ears, I will be with you, I will be with you, I will be with you. And, Lord, let that just resound in our ears and resound in our hearts so that we can do everything that you want us to do.

We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.

I think when we get discouraged and we say, "Who am I?" we need to remind ourselves whose am I, and that makes all the difference. Because we are in God's hands and God loves us very much.

If you have never put yourself in God's hands, I want to encourage you to do that right now. Just come to Christ and say, "Jesus Christ, I put myself in Your hands. Without You I am nothing, but with You I can do anything, because You have the power to do everything." Turn from your sin. The Bible says to repent of your sins so that you can come clean to God. And when we turn from our sins and put our faith in Christ believing that He died for our sins, then that allows us to come cleanly to God because Jesus has already paid the price for us. We're in good hands when we put our hands in Jesus Christ's hands.

So if you've never done that and even if you have and you're struggling with sin or temptation, I encourage you to put yourself in Jesus' hands again.

Basketball, 19 bucks in my hands that's for sure; probably worth a lot less in my hands. But in the right hands, can be worth millions. And you are worth millions.

Thanks again for coming. I hope you join us again here at The Ranch.