When He Leads

If you can really sing that from your heart today, that he is all to you. If that is the case, if that's true in your life, then it is also true that you constantly as a regular practice seek his will for your life. And yet, isn't knowing the will of God one of the most difficult things in all of the Christian life to determine? I think one of the most perplexing questions in the Christian life is, how can I know for sure what the will of God is? How can I know for sure that God is leading me in this direction? What does it look like to determine, to know, to find the will of God? What is that like? It's a perplexing question at times, isn't it? I read a lady in Atlanta that was trying to make a decision about whether or not to resign her church choir and go professional in music or to stay in the church choir. And so she's praying about it. She's seeking the will of God. She's asking God to make very clear to her what she should do. One day she's driving down the interstate there near Atlanta and she saw a billboard for Pizza Hut. And in the strands of spaghetti coming from a fork, she believed that she saw the face of Christ. And somehow that communicated to her that she was to stay in the choir. Now, I'm not sure how those two work together. And I certainly would not say that God cannot show his will to us in that way. God is God. He can do whatever he wants. And if he wants to communicate his will through a billboard and a spaghetti, that's fine. But I don't think that's the normal way we should look for God's will. But it does highlight how perplexing it is. By the way, other folks reported seeing the former rock star Jimmy Morrison in that picture in a few other folks too. It is a perplexing question at times, isn't it? How do I know for sure God is leading me? And how can I make sure I'm following his leading? A couple of very familiar verses that some of you have memorized. Others of you are no doubt familiar with. There are Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 that talk about God's direction in our lives. I want you to notice them carefully this morning as we begin. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Now stop there for a moment. If you know these verses by heart, you probably just kind of glaze through them without even thinking about them. The stipulation here for God directing our paths is that we have to be trusting in him with all of our heart. That means we have to be relying on him completely. We have to be yielding control of our lives to him completely. Don't even think about trying to figure out God's will unless first of all, your life is completely yielded to the control of Christ. If you are totally yielded to him and submissive to him, then he will direct your paths. If there's any unyieldedness, unwillingness, resistance to God in your life, then he is not going to direct your paths. You're not going to sense his will. You're not going to know his will. So you've got to trust in the Lord. Then it says trust in the Lord with all your heart. In other words, an unreserved commitment, no reluctance, no reservation at all. You are totally sold out to following Christ in your daily life. When you do that, and then when you do not lean on your own understanding, in other words, you're not going to lean on your own ability to figure out stuff and to read signs into circumstances. You're just going to live every day fully unreservedly committed to him, not leaning on your own understanding. And then, if you also, in all your ways, submit to him. In other words, every day of your life, just in every routine, decision, and event of life, you're going to submit to him. You're going to say, Lord, I'm going to look for your hand. I'm going to go through whatever open doors you give me, whatever contacts you give me. I'm just going to see your hand in all of my life. And I'm going to live that way. I'm going to trust you to guide my steps so that I'll come across the right people this day. I'll go through the right circumstances, and I will see you at work. And when you're doing those three things, then the Bible says he will make your pads straight. If you memorize it from the King James, as I did it, since he will direct your paths, the Hebrew word literally means he will clear any obstacles out of your path. He will make your path clear. He will take away the problems. He will make it even and smooth. He will take the obstacles out of the way so that you know what you're to do and that you are following him. If you are trusting in the Lord with all your heart, you're not leaning on your own understanding and in all your ways throughout a day, you are submitting to him. He promises to clear the obstacles out of the way. And to guide your steps, but that's difficult to figure out sometimes. Maybe you're facing a move. Maybe you're facing a new job. Maybe you're facing a perplexing decision in your life. Maybe it involves a major change of direction in your life. Maybe you're one of those that we are praying about as a church that are considering ministry. It may be pastoral ministry. It may be missions. And we're praying that God will raise up a number of missionaries from our church. And maybe he's begun touching your heart and speaking to your heart. And you're scared of that right now. You're not sure what that means. And you're not sure how to ask God about that. You're praying. You're open. You're thinking it may be that this morning you are considering a major direction in your life to follow the Lord. And you're earnestly seeking His will. Now, while this is not a message on how to determine God's will, it is a message on how God may work. To smooth your path as you live in unreserved submission to him and are asking for his guidance. This is a message on how God may smooth your path and open doors for you to know that He is directing your life. Moses is a great example of this. Now, we've left Moses out in the desert for three weeks. But we're going to get him to Egypt today. Okay? So let's get back to our series on the life of Moses in Genesis chapter four. And what we find is that Moses is a wonderful example of this whole idea of when God is leading, when God is working, when God begins to move in your life, he will clear the obstacles to move you toward the direction he wants you to go. And the destination he wants you to arrive. We've seen Moses at the burning bush where God clearly, directly gave him His will. He heard unmistakable direction from God. And we've seen that Moses offered five excuses and God didn't accept any of them. He overruled all of them and told Moses that he was sending him to Egypt and no excuse would be accepted. Now what we see is that Moses is going to experience Proverbs 35 and 6 in action. We're going to see that Moses makes or God makes Moses path smooth. He clears the obstacles to prepare the way for him to get to Egypt. As we look at Moses and as we apply his story to our experience and maybe for some of you to a very specific decision you're praying about right now. As we look at this text today in Exodus chapter four, we can see six ingredients in the mix of God's leading. Six ingredients go together to mix and direct us in God's leading. What are they? The first one. Sounds a little strange, but it's an important part of God's leading. That is communication. Communication. Look with me. Please at verse 18. Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law and said to him, let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive. He goes to his father-in-law and he asks permission to go to Egypt. Now God has clearly spoken to him with the burning bush and told him, I want you to go to Egypt. And Moses goes and asks his father-in-law if it's okay. Now first glance, that seems like it's inappropriate. And it does seem like Moses fludges a little bit here. Doesn't that mean let me return to my own people to Egypt to see if any of them are still alive? I mean that's not what God was telling them to do, right? God was telling them to go deliver his people from bondage. Why did Moses do this? Well it's possible that Moses is still kind of weak and faith and not really sure about what God is doing and is a little hesitant to explain all this to his father-in-law. It may be that he contacts this story about going to check out his family. And if so, if that's what he's really doing, then it just shows that God uses us in spite of ourselves, doesn't it? And then who of us in this room is perfect. Who of us in this room is everything we ought to be and we're already arrived at the place where we need to be spiritually to where we would never question God, never doubt him, and we would be fully confident as we progress in his will. Who of us are there? We're all in this journey of still seeking God and learning and growing and learning to trust him more. It's quite possible that Moses is weak right here. But it's also possible, he's wise. It's possible that Moses simply doesn't feel like his father-in-law will understand or maybe even think he's gone off his rocker if he describes this burning bush and God speaking to him from this bush and God wants him to go to Egypt that I can just see Jethro's mouth dropping, his eyes getting white, Moses, you've been out in the sun too long. You crazy, what's wrong with you? And it's quite possible he's simply sharing enough information with him for him to know that God wants him to go to Egypt and the reasons maybe we'll get to later but God wants me to go. Here's the point I believe of this whole story and I love the way Jethro responded by the way. Jethro said go and I wish you well. So he gets his father in law's blessing to go. I think here's the practical point for us today. When God is moving you in a new direction you need to communicate that with your family. You see they haven't been a part of the burning bush. They haven't seen God speak in a miraculous way there and so you're talking to them about all this that God's doing in your heart and they need to understand what God's doing. You need to be communicating that to them. It's amazing how many of us believe that when God leads us that gives us the right to use God's will as a club to beat everybody else in the submission and that's not what Moses is doing. I don't think it's what we should do. Certainly if it is indeed God's will he's not going to let anything stay in the way if you're earnestly seeking his will but wisdom says that you need to be communicating to your family be sensitive to them and get them on board with what God is doing. Again they haven't been at the burning bush. They may not understand what God's doing in your life. All they know is they are being turned upside down. Their life has been turned upside down. It's upsetting to them. It's frightening to them. They may not understand what you're suggesting and so talk with them. Pray with them. Give them time to wrap their minds around what God is doing in your heart and life. Be gracious, be kind, be helpful and allow them to catch up with what God's doing in your heart and life and by the way the same thing can be said for your employer. See Jethra is not only a father in law. He's also Moses employer. He's invested a lot in Moses. He's trained Moses. He depends on Moses. So it's not right just for Moses to go in one day and say hey Dan Law, I'm out of here. See you later. He asks his permission. He graciously brings him into the loop of the decision. So communicate to those close to you what God is doing in your heart. Ask what they think. Give them time to process it. Be understanding. That's not scourging God's will. It's allowing God to take the same time He's maybe taken with you to do that work in their hearts. And by the way if it is truly God's will for you, remember Proverbs 35 and 6? He will clear the obstacles. Even if those obstacles are possible objections from your own family. He will clear that if it's really his will, he will guide you and he will bring them into a oneness with your desire and your heart. What God's doing in your heart. I just love the way that before Moses leads the children of Israel, the nation of Israel in an Exodus from Egypt, he handles his own Exodus from his job and his father-in-law in a gracious kind and godly way. And I believe God expects the same of us. So don't forget when you're following God's will, it may include some other people. And if you're going to be dragging other people along with you and what you believe to be God's will for you, you better be talking with them praying with them getting their understanding of what God is doing. Communication is one of those ingredients that God mixes in clearing our path and making his way clear. But then there's a second ingredient and that's comfort. Look at how God comforts Moses, verse 19. Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, go back to Egypt for all those who wanted to kill you are dead. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt and he took the staff of God in his hand. I love the way God does this and he sensitive to Moses need for comfort. How gracious of God to do this. God knows the thoughts of his mind and the fears of his heart. You see when Moses left Egypt 40 years ago, he was at the very top of Egypt's 10 most wanted. He was featured on Egypt's television program most wanted. I'm sure they did a 60 minute profile on him. Because everybody wanted him dead including the leader of the nation. He's in a number one. He's at the FBI's most wanted list at the very top. So everybody's crosshairs are on Moses and now God you're telling me to take my wife and two kids back into that. There's no question but what there was some fear on his part, some anxiety, some wondering how that would would go. But he's obedient to God. He's making plans to go. He's asked for mission of his boss and his father-in-law to go. So he's moving that direction and God says oh by the way all the people that wanted you dead, they're dead themselves. You see how God comforts him. And when you consider doing something for the Lord and it may be just witnessing to your neighbor or taking a new job or moving to a new location or it may be considering missions. Whenever you're considering something that God may want you to do, there's going to be some fear. There's going to be some worry. There will be some potential danger that you may be facing. And it is amazing how God, if you purpose in your heart to be obedient to him and you start moving that direction, God will clear the way. He'll clear the path for you to go. I'm sure that when when Moses heard that, he slapped that donkey and said okay we're on our way. Let's go. We're ahead of the Egypt. I can remember when I was 21 years old and I was still a student in Bible college and I was a youth pastor in a church in Central North Carolina. And the pastor of that church, the senior pastor, left to take a church in Richmond, Virginia. And the deacons who were very naive at that time came to me and said would you be willing to become our pastor? I mean they didn't know what else to do. And I didn't even think about it. Didn't even pray about it. I said no. Absolutely not. I mean I kind of had things laid out, you know, thinking about how it would work in my life. I'm still got a year and a half of Bible college left. And then I want to work under someone and learn what ministry is all about. And then maybe I'll be ready to do what I believe God's been moving in my heart to do all along. And that is to become a preacher, a pastor who opens up God's word to people. And so that was my thinking. And I just flat out said no. I mean I didn't even ask God about it at all. And so they looked at me and said well in that case until we find a pastor would you fill in and preach. And I said okay all right I'll do that. And a couple months later they came back and by this time the Lord was working in my heart and just I was getting so thrilled and excited about the ministry of the word. I was enjoying it. And they came back and said would you be willing to reconsider. And I'll never forget it was March 10th 1974 after I'd been there almost a year. They were crazy enough to call me as their pastor. And we were still living in Winston-Salem and driving the 65 miles every weekend to go work with the young people. And they had put us up in an old farmhouse that had a tin roof and they'd fixed it up just so much that we wouldn't get wet when it rained and that kind of thing. And we were staying there on the weekends and you know I can I will never forget I will never forget this. How every Saturday night I'd get sick. Because of the awesomeness of the responsibility I had and I was too young for it I felt like and I too inexperienced. I didn't know what I was doing and I just saw so much danger and so many pitfalls and I just stuck with it. And I still to this day believe it was the most gracious church in the whole United States and God gave us a wonderful seven years together. But I was so afraid and God made the way smooth and God made it clear in those first few years as I learned a few things about what it was about. You step out on faith and trust God in spite of your fears and spite of the potential dangers and he will work. He will clear the way. He will remove obstacles and make you a vessel that can be used in his hands. He will do that for you. Please don't be afraid. Young people who are considering missions don't be afraid and if you are afraid don't let that stop you because God wants to use that to turn your eyes toward him and to cause you to think I need him and I can't do this on my own. That's exactly where he wants you to be. He will from that time on clear your path and comfort you with the fact that he will use you in spite of the danger. So when God is moving, when God is at work there should be communication to those around us. There is comfort that comes from our Lord and then sometimes the third ingredient in the mix of God's leading is confusion and this one is going to come out of nowhere and it's going to surprise you just like I'm convinced that did Moses. Confusion. Look with me please at verse 21. The Lord said to Moses, when you return to Egypt see that you performed before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do and I'm sure that Moses is thinking wow, how great. Yeah, I remember those those three things you told me to do that were miracles that would convince him that you were at work and and he would let your people go and so yeah, I'll throw my staff down or become a snake and I'll put my hand inside my cloak and pull it out and it'll be leprous and then put it back and it will be clean and healed and and I'll if I have to if it comes to this I'll take water and it'll turn to blood. Wow, Lord, I remember those I'm excited I'm excited but notice what God says next but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. What? God, Lord, I thought that was the purpose of the miracles so that he would be convinced I thought that's the reason you were sending me to Egypt was to deliver the people now you're telling me he's not going to let him go. What am I pulling up my family for and doing this for anyway? What's going on God? You ever been there? I have and you probably have too. Sometimes God just hits you with situations that are absolutely confusing and you can't figure out what's going on. I thought I was following God's will and God's leading and now the whole thing has to be blown up in my face. What's happening God? There have been many times when a couple of verses in Romans 11 have come back to comfort me and encourage me and so I want to share them with you this morning. You're familiar with them. Many of you are Romans 11 versus 33 and 34. It's on the screen for you. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. It means you can't always figure what he's doing when he's leading you. Some of it's going to be really mysterious. So Paul asks this question who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor. You know God will do some things in your life and in mind that will seem theological, mysterious, confusing. What he's doing is he's stretching us. He's growing us. He's testing us. Will you follow me even when you can't see how things are going to work out? Will you trust me? Will you be obedient to me in the dark? Will you can't figure stuff out? Can't see it? Will you trust me in the dark as much as you do in the light when you can see clearly the path to walk on? You see I'm talking about God clearing your path and please don't misunderstand that. It's not that God makes everything easy. Sometimes things are hard and sometimes things are not clear when God is leading your path. You won't understand what's happening. You won't understand why things are not turning out as you thought they would or should turn out. And it is in those times that you have to simply trust him and continue obeying, believing that God is using that obstacle that bump in the road to grow you, to test you, to try you, to strengthen you and you'll move through it. He will clear that obstacle and you'll move through it. Notice the specific instruction that he gives Moses after this in verse 22. After Pharaoh's heart is hardened, verse 22 says, 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 refuse to let him go so I will kill your firstborn son. He's anticipating the tenth plague because Israel, God's firstborn son is being held back by Pharaoh. Then God will take Pharaoh's firstborn son. And so there is mystery, there is confusion here and Moses is going to have to trust God that when Pharaoh declines and says no, he's going to deliver the message of God to him and then let it go. Put it back in the hands of God. Sometimes God's will is confusing. Sometimes things happen when you follow God that are confusing. Don't let that stop you. Just see that as God testing, growing, stretching you so that you can trust him more in the future. There's a fourth ingredient when God is leading and that's conviction. What I mean by that is that if you decide to really follow Christ with all of your heart, God will begin to deal with specific areas of your life that you've neglected. God will begin to deal with you about areas of your life that you have not dealt with appropriately. I want you to see how I did this with Moses. This is really a strange situation. Verse 24, at a lodging place on the way the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. Now what is going on here? I mean they traveled enough, they can travel in one day, they're staying at an end overnight and we don't know how it happened. Maybe Moses got seriously ill but God's about to kill him. What's going on there? Moses had neglected to obey the Lord in a very basic part of Israel's obedience to God. And so in verses 25 and 26 the Bible says that his wife, Zapura, circumcised their son. Moses had neglected the very sign of God's covenant with his people Israel and he's supposed to be their leader. He's supposed to be the one that leads him out of the land and the very sign of the covenant God makes with these people that he'd given to Abraham centuries before. Moses hasn't even fulfilled that with his own family. So God's dealing harshly with him, yes. And then God uses his wife, Zapura to take care of that obedience to the Lord even though it may have been repulsive to her. Kind of difficult to know what she meant when she said you are a bridegroom of blood to me. She said to to Moses, could mean this was repulsive and disgusting to her. She didn't really want any part of it or it could also mean as some have suggested that they made a vow 40 years ago or so to be each other's husbands and husband and wife. And now they are brought into a covenant together that includes the covenant of God. And now she is his wife not only by betrothal and married, she is his wife through the blood of the covenant and they are united and they're covenant together with Abraham's covenant and the sign of that covenant and leading God's people. That could be what she meant. Regardless, we know that there was some tension in the family because of the surgical procedure later we find out that Zapura and her boys had to go back home and Moses is now alone. But God dealt with him about an issue in his life that he had not taken care of. Listen carefully my friend. If you determine in your heart that you are going to wholeheartedly live for Christ and follow him no matter where that may take you. If you commit yourself to do that then he will begin probing deeply into your heart. He will begin working on things that you've long neglected or things that you need to address that you've not done and not been obedient to him on. He's going to start dealing with you about your thought life. He's going to start dealing with you about some areas of your speech. He may start dealing with you about some habits in your life that you just need to get with him and get through and work through and get victory over before he can move you to that next level of really being used of him. Whatever it may be and it's different for all of us, God's going to start probing deeply in your heart about areas of neglect or areas where you've not fully been obedient to him and wholeheartedly followed him. Expect it. It's all a part of God's leading. It's all a part of God's will conviction and it will come. It comes to all of us where we say, oh Lord I want to follow you. I want to follow you with all my heart and then God says, okay we're going to work on something. We've got a few rough edges to work out here. We've got some polishing to do on your character and God starts working deeply in your heart. Expect that. But then you can also expect something else and that is companionship. Now obviously regardless of how the situation with the Zipporra came down, it was there was some tension there and there was obviously some distance. She had to go back home with her boys and Moses is all alone now and so look what God does next in leading him. Verse 27, the Lord said to Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. Isn't that amazing? It's not that God said to Moses, you go find Aaron, you need a friend. No, no, God is speaking to Aaron down in Egypt. You go find Moses. He needs you right now. You know one of the most amazing things about following God is that God works on both sides of the equation. God works on all fronts to bring people together and when he thinks he's only when you think he's only leading you or only working with you, he's also working with other people to bring them into your life at just the time you need them. At just the time you find yourself lonely and needing a friend to talk to. God is at work smoothing the path. God is at work removing the obstacles of loneliness, of heartache, of questioning and he works on many fronts at once, many lives at the same time to cause them to intersect at just the right time. So God brings Aaron to Moses, middle of verse 27, so he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him that familiar oriental greeting of warmth and affection and love. Verse 28, then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. Can you imagine that evening? Can you imagine sitting around the camp fire that evening and Moses telling his brother, his older brother, Aaron, maybe they haven't seen each other for a long time and he's telling him about all that God's been doing and telling him about how he was shepherd and his work and for his father-in-law and all of this and then I was out in the wilderness one day. I was tending my sheep and you'll never believe what I saw, Aaron, and explains the burning bush to him and it was God speaking to him and what God told him. You'll never believe this, Aaron. Get this. God wants me to go to Egypt and come back and deliver the people and you can just imagine them sitting there maybe into the wee hours of the morning talking about that and how God's been leading him and you know maybe God was doing some of the same stirring in Aaron's heart and she talked or he talked and shared with with Moses as well. I would love to have been around the camp fire that night. Anyone like that you can talk with? Is there anyone that when God is really stirring deeply in your heart and some of it is troubling and it's convicting and it's confusing and you're not sure what God is doing? Is there anyone you can sit down around the fireplace with or sit down in the living room with a din with or go have a cup of coffee with and just unburden your heart. Anyone like that? Now I know us guys find that a little more difficult. That's why it's so interesting to me that this is Moses and Aaron you know two guys that need to talk with each other but we all need this kind of friendship. We all need this kind of companionship. Someone that we can pour our soul out to. Someone that we can express the excitement about what God's speaking to us about and doing in our hearts and it may sound crazy but we can trust this person with that information. Someone that we can share the innermost struggles with and it may be threatening to do that but it's comforting to have that kind of friendship. If you don't have that kind of friend you can sit down with ask God to give you someone like that and first of all ask God to make you that kind of friend because if God works in you to be that kind of friend he'll send someone your way. That's a kindred spirit kindred heart companionship. So many times along life's path you will find that as God is leading he brings someone else into your life at just the right time to be that friend that companion that you can share and unburden your heart with and pray with and talk with about your fears and your joys and all that's going on companionship and then a beautiful confirmation and this is always a part when God is at work when God is leading there will be a confirmation that this is His path that this is His way. Look at how God confirms His leading in Moses' life in verse 29. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites. See they're down in Egypt now so they get all the elders, the leaders, the older men of the Israelites in verse 30 and Aaron told them remember Aaron's supposed to be Moses spokesman and it starts out that way it didn't last very long it starts out that way and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses he now speaking of Moses also performed the signs before the people and they believed and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and it seemed their misery they bowed down and worshiped. What a confirmation. Now again I don't think Moses was much different from any of us here today so I kind of put myself in his sandals and I say this is how I'd be feeling going into this situation. I'm going to Egypt I have these miracles to perform I have this message to deliver from God about God is going to deliver the people he wants to use me to do it and I know this was one of Moses' questions too because it was one of the five he asked the Lord earlier what if I tell them all this and they don't believe it what if they say to me what are you crazy man what you've been away from here too long you don't know anything about us anymore get lost get out of here what if they reject me what what if they don't want to hear what I have to say and even if I perform the sign get out of here charlatan Yudini get out of here what if they what if they respond that way I'm sure there was some of that in Moses' heart how gracious of God to confirm his leading when he spoke to them about what God had told him to do when he showed them the signs and I just imagine myself on the edge of my seat my heart beating quickly wondering what are they going to say what are they going to do and the text says and they believed they believed and they bowed down and worship God wow what a confirmation that must have been God has a way of confirming confirming his leading and it's often how in how others respond how others give the evidence of the fact that God is working in their lives through what God has done in your life no doubt Moses sensed that confirmation of God's working and God's leading what a blessing that is and so gracious of God to do that I don't know who I'm speaking to this morning I mean I know most of you pretty well but I really don't know who God is speaking to I just I just know that whenever God lays something on your heart and and puts it as a burden to deliver that he intends it for somebody he doesn't intend these words to be wasted in the air the Holy Spirit intends these to be directed at somebody and I just don't know who that is or how many of you that may be but you know today if you're facing a critical decision in your life you you know if God has been tenderly touching your heart and moving you to ministry or to mission to serve him as a missionary somewhere or you know if God's been moving in your heart to relocate take another job at least you're asking those questions you're just not sure you're seeking his will maybe maybe today you are on the verge of one of the most important decisions you will ever make maybe you are at that crossroads maybe you are right there and you're looking and praying and thinking which way do I go God how do I know you will what do you want me to do I want to challenge you this morning back up from the decision for a little bit and make sure you're doing the Proverbs 35 and 6th thing the thing that Moses put into practice make sure that your heart is fully committed to him and you're not trying to figure this out on your own that you're looking for his leading and asking him and committing yourself to him on a daily basis that you're just growing in him and you're walking with him and that's your focus and then he will begin to move he'll begin to clear out obstacles he'll begin to open doors he'll begin to bring circumstances and people into your life that move you along in his will and yes it may include some confusion at times and it definitely will include some conviction because he wants to grow you not just lead you be ready be ready my friend for God to make smooth your paths to make clear to make even to open up your path as you seek his leading and guidance it's pretty together Father thank you that your word deals with real issues real life where we are today Father I thank you for Moses just like us fearful hesitant weak faithless and yet ruggedly doggedly determined to be obedient to do what you're told him to do and you opened the way help us to believe that in spite of our fears our anxiety our confusion that you will open up the path before us and take us a step at a time to that destination you have for us and the journey along the way will be one of testing and growth thank you for that Father help us just to be trusting and obedient to you at all times Lord I pray especially for that person that you through your spirit have your finger right around their hearts right now and you're speaking to them you're drawing them you're convicting them I pray Father that you would be at work in a very definite way in their hearts may they respond appropriately in Jesus' name Amen