Sharpening Our Blunted Sword
“24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” Exodus 7:24-25 NKJV
Moses knew that he was called in life to be the deliverer of his people, to deliver the Hebrews from the bondage of the Egyptians. Moses’ problem was that he got ahead of God in His calling. Moses killed the Egyptian thinking that the Hebrews would then follow him because they could see God using him on their behalf. This was not the response he got from his people and, in fear, he fled to the wilderness for 40 years.
How often does this happen to us and our life in Jesus? Oh, maybe you have not acted as rashly as did Moses, but it is not uncommon to recall the foolishness that accompanied our zeal when we first got saved. We often operate with great zeal when we are young, but not always with wisdom, especially with His wisdom. The result is that we get frustrated and a little bit more worn down by life. As time passes there is a cumulative effect of life that erodes our zeal. Life has a way of blunting the edges of our sword and we don’t wield it quite as effectively. The result is that we eventually find ourselves just existing day to day as Moses did with very little purpose and little remembrance of the call and the zeal that was placed within our souls when we gave our hearts and lives to Jesus.
Moses had a call even though for 40 years it could not have felt that way in the wilderness. With every passing year, the remembrance of the call and corresponding zeal for that call would fade a little more. It may have even seemed like a dream, but the call remained regardless of how Moses felt in the natural, or how much time had evaporated in his life with no results for God. Moses still had a call and powerful one. The good news is that the same thing is true for you today.
Perhaps you feel as though you have failed at the call He gave you and you cannot go back. How you feel is irrelevant, the decided truth of the matter is if the blood of Jesus saved you, then He has a call upon you and your life which you pledged to Him in service to His will. There are a purpose and design for your life that was in place even before you were born. There is a plan for you to advance His kingdom. There is a plan for you that involves more than just going through this life and surviving till you reach the next life.
Perhaps your purpose and call in this life has been blunted by life up until today, but know that the call is there and if you believe and commit to it once more, He will sharpen the sword entrusted to y
J Todd Hostetler