Tag: success

Not Perfect is a Holy Thing: Moses

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Person: Moses
Epic Fail: Anger and frustration
God’s View: One of the greatest prophets

Ever avoid getting involved because you’re angry or frustrated? STOP! Moses had numerous occasions whereby he got frustrated and angry. He even failed in this area. God still used him! Moses was an imperfectly HUGE hero in the Bible. While anger and frustration may be a weak area, perhaps you should pursue God and overcome these struggles.

God’s Man
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt ; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king ; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land ; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.
~Hebrews 11:24-29 NASB

Moses’ Failure
The story of Moses did not go as smoothly as mentioned in Hebrews 11. He took matters into his own hands by killing an Egyptian, causing him to have to flee. While this may not be the best way of handling his situation, look at how God viewed it. Even in failures or when we do things wrong there can be glimmers of faith.

Moses did not view himself as a good communicator. So, God gave him Aaron to be Moses’ mouthpiece. This lead to some problems down the road. Still, Moses lead the people out of Israel. There were multiple occasions that lead to anger and frustration for Moses. In one instance, he struck a rock out of frustration rather than following the instructions God gave him. This failure kept Moses from entering the promised land.

God’s final view
God describes Moses as a man of faith. Moses wrote the 5 most critical books of the Bible, the Torah, by which all other books point and connect to. He conquered nations, stood for God when all Israel, save a few, looked elsewhere. He saw God. Moses was not a great man because he lacked faults, was perfect, or in him was no sin. Moses became a great man because he pursued God.

Yes, Moses had to face consequences for his sin, but its not the sin that God brings up, its the acts of his faith. Here is the key to God’s grace and forgiveness- it wipes away all sin! While there may be consequences to sin here on Earth, the failure of sin is not the final word on our lives! Out of the trials and failures that Moses, and ourselves, face on Earth will be written the strengths of our faith and the grace God granted to us.

Why not Wednesday: A not so perfect start

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A professor of mine wrote a quote on the whiteboard that shattered all thinking in the room:

“It something is truly worth doing, its worth doing poorly.”

Yeah, but…
Even now I bet you are thinking “yeah, but…” The classroom filled with those kinds of statements. The prof, as is normal for teachers, sat back and smiled at the ensuing discussion. We are, after all, trained to think: If you can’t do with excellence, don’t do it at all.” We are, after all, taught that doing something poorly might result in not being able to try it again.

Some, after the prof’s enduring silence, took the statement to mean: “You have to start at some point.” The ‘yeah, but…’ statements kept flowing, though. These transitioned into the statement being an excuse for pool quality. We were left at a loss because the statement was still on the board.

A poor start
Remember the early days of Toyota, Honda, or Hyundai? They were known for poor quality. They rose to the top. Recently, Hyundai is starting to edge out Toyota and Honda. They started poorly, but all three came around. Here is the meaning:

They key words are “truly” and “doing.” Some things are not truly worth doing- like crime. Some things are truly worth doing- like saving a life. Doing gets things done. An idea or potential is just that, an idea or potential. They mean nothing until you act, that’s doing. Helping meet transportation needs has true worth. Toyota, Honda and Hyundai started to act. They made cars, and the did it poorly at first.

So what, do it!
What ministry adventure would you like to do? Is it truly worthwhile to take that step? Then do it! Because you start poor does not mean you have to stay poor. You can grow, you can learn, you can overcome- if it is truly worth doing. I am not saying this will be easy- it may be very painful.

This week as we’re looking at how ‘Not Perfect is a Holy Thing,’ the theme is how God used people who had epic failures. Practically speaking, it is better to act now, even though you may not be ready or may even make significant mistakes. Why? Because if something is truly worth doing, its worth doing poorly. Pursing God is worth doing, and though you may not have it all figured out or even know what you’re doing, what may start as poor can turn into something incredible down the road.

The bottom line:
So, start now, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes! Greatness or excellence is not the absence of failure or mistakes.