Stuck Between Chapters
Pastor Erickson preaches from Acts 7 and Exodus 2 and 3 on the forty silent years Moses spent tending sheep in Midian between leaving Egypt and meeting God at the burning bush. He calls those who feel stuck between chapters to keep serving faithfully, let God shape them in the waiting, and trust that He is writing the next chapter.
The message in 6 points
Forty years in one verse
Acts 7 says Moses fled at forty and received his call at the burning bush when forty more years had expired. Between Exodus 2 and 3 those years pass with almost nothing written, and he says many people are stuck between chapters, but God is preparing them in the wait.
46:23A stranger in a strange land
Moses is drawn out of the Nile, raised in Pharaoh's palace, kills an Egyptian and flees to Midian. There he defends Jethro's daughters at the well, marries Zipporah and names his son Gershom, for he has been a stranger in a strange land.
51:06Trained on the backside of the desert
God used those years to teach Moses to shepherd and lead, and Numbers 12:3 calls him the meekest man on earth. He urges people not to let frustration turn into offense or the feeling that God owes them something, because Moses did not fill chapters complaining.
1:01:55Patience and the need is the call
Romans 5 and James 1 teach that trouble works patience, and patience leads to hope. While you wait, look around for the need, often the job nobody else wants, the way a palace-raised Moses humbly watered sheep.
1:09:04Build character in the quiet
Character is built behind the scenes, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are changed into His image. He tells students that what they do now goes with them, and urges everyone to play to their strengths, as Moses and Aaron did together, because God has not given us a spirit of fear.
1:17:23God is working behind the scenes
God is not preparing to bless you; He is preparing you for the blessing, and He will finish the good work He began. To wait upon the Lord in Isaiah 40:31 means to serve Him, so he calls people to the altar to keep serving and give God a clean page for the next chapter.
1:24:33
In his words
“The God of the burning bush never sleeps. He never slumbers. He's always working. He's never late. He's just preparing you while you're in the wait.”
“Listen, meekness and humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's the mindset to think of yourself less.”
“Just because you don't see things happening, doesn't mean that God is not working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added.
Scripture
He reads
Acts 7:22-23
22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
King James Version.
Acts 7:29-30
29Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. 30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
King James Version.
Exodus 2:15-22
15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. 16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? 19And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. 20And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. 21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. 22And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
King James Version.
Exodus 2:23
23And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
King James Version.
Exodus 3:1
1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
King James Version.
Numbers 12:3
3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
King James Version.
Romans 5:3-4
3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
King James Version.
James 1:4
4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
King James Version.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.
King James Version.
2 Timothy 1:7
7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
King James Version.
Philippians 1:6
6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
King James Version.
Isaiah 40:31
31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
King James Version.
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