Join us as we delve into the lessons faith can instill, drawn from the ancient and inspiring story of Moses. The episode provides a reflective look at Moses’ faith journey, exploring his encounters with Pharaoh, the challenges at the Red Sea, and the pivotal moments that solidified his trust in God. With powerful insights and life applications, this discussion encourages us to rely wholly on God, reminding us that success comes from trusting and obeying His guidance irrespective of the worldly definitions of success.
Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, January 15th. The remarkable Old Testament stories that we love to read are ultimately about ordinary people who had extraordinary faith in God. Today’s podcast explains how you can choose to follow the way of faith.
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Why couldn’t God have straightened Moses up? quicker than 40 years on the backside of the desert. Now, couldn’t God have given him some burning bush experience over there in Egypt and said, let’s get on with this, Moses? Not only that, what about this? God knows everything. And the Bible says that when Moses came back, he challenged Pharaoh to let the people go and Pharaoh said no. And so God began 10 plagues. Why 10? Because Wait a minute, God. We’ve been down here almost 400 years. Just send him number 10. That’s all we’re interested in. Just send him the 10th plague. Because it was the 10th one that got the job done. Killing every single firstborn in Egypt. Unless the blood was on the doorpost. Why go through the first nine plagues? Why not one? The way of faith is sometimes the longest way and sometimes the way that it requires of us the most patience. But it is also the way of oftentimes of the most misunderstanding. When I think about Moses and how God worked in his life and think about the misunderstandings that he went through, listen. over and over and over again, you know what they want to do? They want to stone this man. I mean, he’s brought him to the Red Sea, brought him out of Egyptian captivity, all the things that have happened. And what they want to do when things don’t go to suit them, they want to stone him right there. He lived with misunderstanding, but he kept on trusting and obeying God until they got to the promised land. Now, let me give you a couple examples. One example is enough here. If I had been one of those Hebrews and all of a sudden we were camped down by the Red Sea, I would be thinking, now wait a minute, Moses. If you’re listening to God, the one thing God would never do is lead us in a trap. Because if you’ll take a Bible map and trace how the Hebrews moved, They could have gone another way, but God saw fit not to let them go that way. It would have been the easiest way, the Bible says. But he didn’t want them getting mixed up in war with the Philistines, so he let them down, and they had to camp by the Red Sea. Now, militarily and strategically, this was suicide. Because remember that Pharaoh has already reneged on his promises again and again, nine plagues. And he turned right around and said no. The tenth plague, they don’t know what he’s going to do. He may change his mind again. And here they are camped, almost three million of them, down by the Red Sea. And here they are, they’re back to the sea. And if Pharaoh changes his mind, there’s no way to escape. Sure enough… They hear this rumble. Here comes Pharaoh and his chariots, all of his trained soldiers, all of his arsenal. Behind all of that is his hostility and anger and determination to absolutely wipe out the Hebrews. Moses, you have really blown it this time. You may have led us this far, but you have made a horrible mistake, and we’re going to all die in each other’s blood right here by the Red Sea. That’s what human reasoning says and feeling says. That’s what human strength says. How are we helpless with no weapons going to fight against Pharaoh’s army? You see, what they didn’t understand was this. That old shepherd’s stick, at the right moment, Moses was going to lift that and issue a command. What did God do? He just opened up the whole sea and they walked right through. Now listen, not on muddy ground. Now that water had been there for centuries. When they walked by, when they walked through, it was as dry as this carpet. You see, when they walked through, they were kicking up dust. And moments before it had been covered with deep water. You see, God always knows what his next move is going to be. And that’s where we trip up. God, what are you going to do next? And he’s not going to say a thing. Lord, I want to know. And you can’t make him tell you. And what you have to decide is this. Am I going the way of faith or am I going the way of the flesh? My feelings tell me this. Reasoning tells me this. But is that God’s way? You see, I must trust him. I must trust Him no matter what someone says.” Because you see, other people are not going to be, they can’t handle it. And in spite of everything they did, Moses obeyed God. He trusted God, obeyed God, and relied wholly upon God. With his, listen, with his back to all of Egypt’s arsenal, he looked at the sea and looked at God. And while he was looking at God, God took care of the sea. You see, that’s why we have to keep our focus on God. If Moses had looked around and said, desert, desert, desert, sea. Egyptians by the hundreds. Armed chariots, swords, javelins. Versus sticks and animals and slings. No match. Except when you walk in the way of faith. Listen to me. You’re always walking. a match for anything that you face. You’re always a match. Listen, not just a match. The odds are ten to one in your favor. No, they’re better than that. They’re heaven to one in your favor because you cannot lose walking the way of faith. You cannot lose. And no matter what someone says, all you and I have to do is to keep our focus on Him. And we said the way of, listen, the way of faith is the way of trusting, obeying, relying wholly upon God. Let’s say it together. Trusting, obeying, relying wholly upon God. Say it again. Trusting, obeying, relying wholly upon God. That’s the way of faith. And you cannot fail. So the way of faith is also the way of the greatest spiritual growth. Now think about this. Every single one of us has the potential of being what God wants us to be. Achieving and accomplishing what God wants. The question is, is that what you want for your life? Do you want to be the best that God can make of you? Do you want to be the best that you can be for God? Or you want to be second best? I don’t mean better than someone else. I mean the best that you have the potential of being. then why do we settle for such cheap stuff? Doubting God, doing it our way, going by our feelings, got to have it now. And what do we do? We miss out on life’s very best. You see, that’s the way God grows us up. Look at Moses. He grew up in an Egyptian household with all the paganism of Egypt, all their gods. God took him on the backside of the desert, stripped him of everything he had, changed his mind about a lot of things, brought him back to Egypt. to face Pharaoh, to face innumerable odds, impossible circumstances, barriers that were absolutely impossible. Think about this. When he headed out into that desert, God had not already told him, now I’m going to feed them in the following manner. I’m going to water them in the following manner. Think about some two and a half to three million people walking out into a desert. How are you going to eat? All those animals would be gone before long. And what about water? And they must have asked the same question a thousand times. We’re following Moses, but oh God. You see, you just think about how God grew up this man. You know how he grew him up? Troubles, trials, heartaches, tribulations, failures, defeats. That’s the way he grew him up. And when I think about 40 years in the desert and all the rest, I want you to think about something. Somebody says, 40 years in the desert. I’m going to tell you of one incident in Moses’ life that he would have walked away and said, I want to tell you. After the last 10 minutes, half hour, hour, whatever it was, Forty years in the desert was worth every bit of this. Imagine. Forty years he’d walked around there in Midian. And one day he saw something he’d never seen. Here was a bush burning but would not burn up. And all of a sudden out of that bush he heard a voice that he’d never heard before. Moses. Moses. Take off your sandals. The place upon which you stand is holy ground. Took them off and fell flat before God. He didn’t know who God was. He had to ask Him His name. He said, now when I do what you say do, and I go to the elders, who am I going to tell them sent me? Moses stood in the presence of holy God. And the glory of God… They’re so great that he could not even look upon that flame. You think when Moses walked away from that, he just said, well, but I’ve been over here 40 years. Oh, no. Now, listen to me carefully. God is not going to send you and me a burning bush out in our yard that will not burn up to show us something. And thank God he’s not going to. Because we have reasons maybe to question. Do you know that I’ve got something better than the burning bush? We’ve got the whole counsel of God. In print. In a language we can understand. And every single word of it is from him. And we can trust every single word of it. That’s better than a burning bush. And there are going to come times in your life that are going to be pivotal, crucial, critical moments of decision. And you’re going to think, oh God, if I just had a burning bush, you’ve got one. Now listen carefully. You may let it lay in your house till it gets dusty. And you may turn on the air condition and you’ll feel the cover and it’s cold. But I’m going to tell you, the whole time you’ve had it, it’s been burning. with the revelation of God, with the wisdom of God, with the knowledge of God, with the understanding of God, with direction for your life. You see, that’s the way we grow up. We grow up spiritually going through difficulty and hardship in the way of faith because it is the way of faith that brings us to where God wants us to be. Now, the way of faith is also the way of success. Trusting God… Obeying God, relying upon God, you can’t fail. You say, now wait a minute, I know some folks who are not saved who are succeeding. What is success? Is success prosperity? Is success prominence? What about the emptiness and the loneliness and the dissatisfaction and the unfulfilled desires and the loneliness they have to go through? You say, well… What about position? What about it? My friend, position doesn’t make you a success. Prosperity doesn’t make you a success. Prominence doesn’t make you a success. Do you know who the successful people in life are? The people who learn and who practice trusting God. OBEYING GOD AND RELYING UPON GOD. YOU KNOW WHAT? WHEN YOU LOOK AT SOMEBODY, I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH THEY HAVE AND HOW HIGH THEIR POSITION, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S DEEP DOWN INSIDE. I’VE READ A WHOLE BUNCH OF SUCCESS BOOKS. THEY HAVE ALL OF THESE WAYS TO MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? IF MONEY MADE YOU CONTENTED, AND IF PRESTIGE AND PROMINENCE AND POSITION, ALL THIS STUFF MADE PEOPLE CONTENTED, TELL ME, WHY ARE THEY SO MISERABLE? You can pick up a couple of popular magazines of people who’ve got all of just what I’ve been talking about. And most of those magazines about what they have and who they are, but what they’re going through. Defeats in their life because of their immorality and disobedience and rebellion against God. And their whole life is a life of pride and egotism. That doesn’t make for success. You show me a dear mother who stays at home, trains her children, prays for them daily, loves them, serves her husband, is served by him, loved by him, may not have much of the world’s goods, but they love each other to death. And they love their kids, and their kids love them. Their name will never be in the paper. Then you show me someone over here who lives in the biggest house in town, got the most money, highest position, promised, fussing, fighting, kids on drugs, daughter pregnant, Which one do you really want? You see, too much of the world has gotten into people’s minds and they think that’s a success. No. Moses was a wonderful success. You know why? Because he trusted God and obeyed God and he relied upon God. God made him a success. He trusted the Lord. You see, many people will never succeed because they won’t take the first step. If you want to succeed, it’s real simple. You don’t even have to read any books. All you have to do is make a decision. I am going to trust God in every circumstance of my life, with my finances, with my vocation, with my future, with my health, with my everything. I am going to trust Him. I’m going to walk in his spirit. That is, I’m going to obey him, whatever he says to do, and I’m going to rely upon him to take care of all the consequences of my obedience. There is no way to fail. And God says things about Moses. He says about no one else. Man who walked with God face to face because he walked the way of faith. One last thing. The way of faith is the best way. You should have come to that conclusion already. It is the best way. Why? Well, let me give you several reasons why. First of all, the way of faith keeps my focus upon God. The way of faith keeps me relying upon God. The way of faith keeps me in a position that I am able to receive God’s very, very best. You see, walking the way of faith makes it possible for me to succeed because I’m in a position where God can give me his best. And the way of faith brings glory. Listen, the greatest glory to God. Now, what’s the first step in the way of faith? Here’s the first step. The first step in the way of faith is to place your trust in In Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and ask Him to save you. That’s step number one. You know what happens after that? The Holy Spirit comes into your life, and He will begin to give you direction and divine guidance. You say, but now wait a minute. I don’t understand that. You don’t have to understand that. Just take the first step. And the reason some of you will die and be separated from God forever and ever and ever is because you can’t understand the first step. You don’t have to understand it. Trust him. Jesus Christ died for your sins. And if you will ask him to forgive you of your sins and accept his death on the cross, his full payment of your sin, take the step of faith. Trust him. Then after you take the first step, he will show you the next step. That’s what the Christian life’s all about, step by step, the way of faith. And you have two choices. You can keep living the way of the natural, the way of the flesh, by reason, feelings, human wisdom, human strength, or you can choose the way of faith, the supernatural way of trusting Him, obeying Him, and relying totally upon Him in every area of your life, you cannot be the same. You will not be the same. Every single area of your life will be affected if you’ll be wise enough to choose the way of faith. Thank you for Moses. Thank you for his faithfulness to you. Thank you for his failures. Thank you for the way you worked in his life. And thank you for the beautiful example he is to all of us. I pray today in Jesus’ name that you will sink this message, seal this message, solidify this message in the spirit of every single hearer. so that we cannot escape from it. We’ll choose not to escape from it, but we’ll choose to apply to our life and look for the evidence with great anticipation and excitement of what you will begin doing when we choose the way of faith is my prayer in behalf of all of us in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Thank you for listening to part two of The Way of Faith. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
