Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in you sight.  Consider too that this nation is your people.

Exodus 33:13

As I reread Moses’ prayer today, I am struck with the humility with which Moses asks God to continue revealing His ways.  If anyone had first hand experience of watching God work, it was Moses.  Here are a few examples:

*God speaks to him through a burning bush.

*God uses Moses to prophesy 10 plagues on Egypt.

*God works through Moses to split the Red Sea.

*God gives Moses the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai.

*God speaks to Moses as a man speaks to a friend.

Moses had seen God do some amazing miracles.  Moses was the first person to read God’s law.  Moses had an incredibly intimate knowledge of God… Yet he prays, “please show me your ways.”

Here are a few lessons from this prayer:

1)Learners make the best leaders.

If Moses realized he had not arrived, then there’s a good chance we have not either.  Throughout scripture and history the best leaders are those who posture themselves as life-long learners.  Solid spiritual leaders continuously lead out of the overflow of what God is teaching them.  The moment I begin leading from my own well of wisdom, that’s a good time to JUMP SHIP and RUN!

2)Keep an open hand with assumptions.

Most of the time our assumptions are based on past experiences and what we see, think, and feel. My experiences from the past 6 years with the Point Church give me an idea of what God can do, but I must realize He is not limited by that.  I must remember that God operates outside of my experiences and my perspective, and He maintains the freedom to surprise me with His activity at any moment.

3)How matters as much as what.

Moses knows the Promised Land is the goal.  He also knows how they get there is important to God.  Embracing pragmatism over scriptural principles is always a temptation, and every time I choose pragmatism over principle I eventually regret it.  Maybe this is because scriptural principles are always pragmatic from an eternal perspective.

4)Scripture trumps everything.

When I make a decision, take a step, or choose a path based on my feelings, the latest greatest human strategy, or popular opinion without filtering it through the lens of scripture, I am basically telling God, “I know more than you.”  Still as I read the Bible, I come across scriptures that seem confusing and just don’t make sense to me.  90% of scripture, though, is incredibly clear and I need to make the decision whether I really believe or not.

If you have not made up your mind before you get started that the scriptures are sufficient, you will sell out. Because it will be the scriptures plus…

Matt Chandler, Pastor- The Village Church

Here are some specific ways you can pray for us this week:

*Pray that I will take on the posture of a learner- teachable to God and other Godly leaders He chooses to place in my life as we move towards Burlington.

*Pray that we will have an open hand with our church planting strategy as we get to know the Burlington community and see more of how God is at work.

*Pray that everything we do (not just church planting) would be rooted in scripture and the Gospel: our marriage, raising Jude, managing our money, serving others around us.

*Pray that God will give us a smooth transition in our last four months here in NJ as I transition out of my pastoral role at the Point,  new leaders step up with the church, we attempt to sell our home, and we prepare for the move to Burlington.

*Pray that God will strengthen mine and Christin’s marriage more and more every day.