Moses: God’s Calling and Plan A
Thousands of years ago, Moses was born into the family lineage of God’s chosen people. A descendant of Israel himself even of the tribe of Levi, but raised in the land of Egypt (Exod. 1-2). According to the famous story of his birth and the miraculous saving of his life as a young boy, it’s clear that God was with him and had a plan for his life.
He was a Hebrew boy in an unlikely situation; growing up with the best of all the wealth and education Pharaoh’s royal family has to offer, yet a stranger in a foreign land. He had access to Egyptian comforts and prestige yet his heart was broken for the state of the Hebrew people, God’s chosen people, who had been made into slaves in that same country.
With what seems like the most honorable of intentions, Moses left the safety net of his Egyptian comfort out of an effort to rescue God’s people.
The Bible says it this way:
“One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.” (Exod. 2:11)
Moses and the Failure of Plan A
Moses, one of God’s people, had a plan. Let’s call it ‘Plan A’. It is to rescue the Hebrew people. Moses executes ‘Plan A’ by taking matters into his own hands and rescues, who he assumes will be, the first of many Hebrews, by killing the Egyptian.
“Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” (Acts 7:25)
In fact the murder that he thought had been done in secret to begin a rescue mission, became publicly known, and fearing for his life, Moses ran away to a foreign land. Although Moses was one of God’s people, willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of others, and in what must have seemed like “royal position for such a time as this”, ‘Plan A’ had failed.
God’s Plan B for Moses
But the story wasn’t over. 40 years will pass, at which time God speaks to Moses from the burning bush (Acts 7:23, 30) and presents to Moses the beginning of what we might call; ‘Plan B’ for the rescue of God’s people.
‘Plan B’ does in fact have the same goal that Moses had with ‘Plan A’, but now it is marked with God’s power and timing.
Of course Moses goes on to be used so powerfully by the LORD that he would be forever known a rescuer of the Hebrews, and one of the most famous leaders of God’s people. He went on to experience a closeness with God that few others have ever experienced in this lifetime (Exod. 33:11). And it was through Moses that God’s law was given, and even today many people around the globe today have heard of his exploits.
Joseph: Plan A and Plan B
While we could discuss for a long time all of the reasons it was so, simply put, we might describe the story this way:
Moses was called to be a rescuer of God’s people and knew it. It was likely this very calling that spurred Moses on to attempt to serve God by executing ‘Plan A’ which ended in failure. However, even though it took a 40 year delay, Moses did not quit trusting in God’s power and ability, and was willing to keep moving forward with ‘Plan B’.
In fact ‘Plan B’ goes so well that were you to re-tell Moses’ life story, the failure of ‘Plan A’ is only a small part of a much greater story of incredible God-given success. And it leaves those who hear the story filled with appreciation for the fact that Moses did not give up even though the method for how to fulfill God’s calling on his life had changed.
While we don’t know for certain, it’s possible that Moses was inspired by the life of Joseph, a forefather of his who had also not given up on God’s ability to accomplish great things even when ‘Plan A’ doesn’t work out.
Joseph’s Early Dreams
Joseph (Gen. 37, 39-30) was a son of one of the Patriarchs in the Old Testament, who would go on to have 2 sons that each become one of founding fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Joseph was also one of God’s chosen people, and dedicated to honoring God and loved dearly by his father. And Joseph too had a special relationship with God, and God spoke to Joseph through dreams and the interpretation of them.
As the story begins, God first spoke to Joseph in dreams when he was 17. Whether Joseph handled those dreams the way that God intended is not immediately known. But it seems as though Joseph’s ‘Plan A’ to honor God by speaking of these God-given dreams, while possibly naïve, seems laced with God honoring intentions. However while Joseph knew the dreams were meaningful and from God, his brothers did not, and instead of joining him in holding their interpretation before the Lord as Joseph must have imagined that they would, they end up selling him as a slave to get rid of him.
Joseph in Egypt
At this point you might already be able to say that Joseph’s ‘Plan A’ to honor God has failed, but Joseph does not give up on either trusting or honoring the LORD.
Like Moses, he also ended up in Egypt. But as a slave, he is sold to an Egyptian captain of the guard named Potiphar, and even there, the LORD was with him. In fact, because of his reverence for the LORD he found favor with his owner. His responsibilities grew and he was trusted with running Potiphar’s household and everything else he owned.
When tempted by Potiphar’s promiscuous wife, Joseph knows that to give in would be to sin against God, and he refused, and even went out of his way to avoid further temptation. (Gen. 39:10) It seems clear that Joseph has set out again to carry out ‘Plan A’ of honoring and obeying the LORD.
Joseph in Prison
However, once again he is met with betrayal, complete disregard for his integrity, and thrown into prison as a thanks for his desire to honor the LORD. You might see this as an apparent failure of ‘Plan A’ to honor and obey God’s calling on his life.
But Joseph still did not give up and demonstrated a continuing desire to honor the LORD (Gen. 39:20-40:23). While in prison the LORD was still with him and he found favor with the warden because of it and earned responsibility there too.
Sometime later the King’s cupbearer and baker offended their king and were thrown into prison under Joseph’s care. Each of them had a dream, which Joseph interpreted accurately thanks to the LORD’s power of interpretation.
Joseph boldly credits the LORD for his ability to interpret, with another effort to honor the LORD, but what we might see as another attempt at ‘Plan A’ to honor and obey the LORD, would turn into hardship once again.
Joseph’s interpretations came true, and 3 days later the baker was hanged and the cupbearer was restored to his high position with the king, but Joseph was forgotten. And he remained in prison another 2 years before he had an opportunity for freedom and sudden change of circumstance.
All in all, there are 13 years between his first dreams, to when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Gen. 37:2, 41:46) becoming second in command of all the country. Joseph always desired to honor the LORD, but he hadn’t ever expected it to be accomplished in this way. If we consider Joseph’s eventual unexpected royal position as ‘Plan B’ in honoring the LORD, once again you would see a similar thing as with the life of Moses.
‘Plan B’ goes so well that were you to re-tell Joseph’s life story, the repeated failures of ‘Plan A’ end up being only a small part of a much greater story of incredible God-given success. And it leaves those who hear the story filled with appreciation for the fact that Joseph did not give up even though the method for how to fulfill God’s calling on his life had changed from what he originally thought it would be.
The Lesson of Sandals on the Beach
You and I can learn a great deal from the similarity of these two stories, and we can refer to the lesson to be learned as “sandals on the beach”.
Here’s a simple word-picture to explain what I mean:
Suppose God calls you to the task of walking down a beach, along the waters edge, to a certain destination. What a blessing to be called to such a pleasant ministry! So you set out, and to protect your feet from the hot sand you wear a pair of sandals. Those sandals are your ‘Plan A’ for how you will accomplish your mission, and they are a God honoring item to wear as they are sure to help you achieve your mission. However, a short time later you realize that there is an unexpected amount of sand getting into your sandals that begins to irritate your feet.
Even though your intention with the sandals was only ever to honor God with them, and while they may have even been a blessing from God; the irritation is so severe that you are faced with a decision:
Take the easy way out and quit the mission. Continue on despite the irritation if possible. Or move to ‘Plan B’ and take the sandals off and keep walking. If you quit, the entire mission will fail. If it’s impossible to continue with the sandals on and you choose to take off the sandals and continue, it is only ‘Plan A’ that has failed and you can move forward and accomplish the mission with ‘Plan B’.
From the easy perspective of an outsider, the choice seems obvious, shift to ‘Plan B’ and continue the objective. That is what Moses and Joseph both did, despite the fact that the ‘Plan A’s’ in their lives had seemed like and most likely actually been, God honoring ways of doing things.
And there are many other examples in Scripture of people accomplishing God’s plans with what seems like ‘Plan B’, or at least a plan that nobody would have seen coming. Paul (consider 2 Cor. 11:23-33 as an example) would also be another great example of this. And of course there is no better example of this than Jesus Himself!
Examples from the lives of Moses, Joseph or Paul, let alone Jesus Himself, are such big shoes to fill that it seems unattainable. Additionally, what I have learned is that my life is so full of amazing blessings from God, that it takes a surprisingly small amount of sand in my sandals to irritate me, or even threaten to derail my mission. And because of the effect of sin in this world, whether it will be severe things like these heroes of the Bible faced or whether it’s more subtle things, we know that it’s only a matter of time before we get some sand in our sandals.
We would do well to ask ourselves what the “sand in our sandals” might be. It will be something unexpected. Perhaps an illness, loss of a job, a broken relationship or untimely death of a loved one. In Moses’ case it included being misunderstood and perhaps operating in his human power and timing instead of God’s. In Joseph’s case it included betrayal and disregard for his integrity. In Paul’s case it included shipwrecks and going without sleep. The list of possibilities is long.
I would have to humbly admit that in my case, the sand in my sandals can be as small as a discouraging comment from someone I am trying to lead, or a realization of my own weakness.
Whatever the sand in your sandals might be, we need to remember the bold words of our Savior when He described some other forms of sand in the sandals, such as insults, slander and persecution:
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
In other words, Jesus acknowledges that just because we get sand in our sandals from time to time there is never a time to quit. In fact, quite the opposite. Those undesired things can serve as a reminder of the truth that all who do what God calls them to do, have the common experience of getting sand in their sandals.
We must either continue on as is or move to ‘Plan B’, but we must never give up on the calling He has placed on our lives, or on our lifelong mission of honoring and obeying Him.
His very own word encourages us with this truth; “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10) ‘Plan B’ might be an option, but quitting is not.
In yet another place God’s word says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Moses and Joseph and Jesus are all powerful examples of accomplishing God’s purposes with an unexpected twist along the way that nobody could have seen coming at the beginning of their stories.
God’s Word echoes with shouts of encouragement to keep on, to not give up, or as in the Paul’s case to “strain toward what is ahead” and “press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).
And consider the powerful truth of these words; “my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Whatever type of sandy beach God has called you to walk on, let us be those who press on, relying on God’s power as Joseph and Moses did well, enjoying closeness with Jesus, determining to continue with a strength that can only come from God, who promises to empower us by His ever-available Holy Spirit. Keep on soldier.
Dylan Barkman Senior Pastor, Pansy Chapel
