Sheryl Brady - The Backlash of Bickering

I just want to talk about the subject of the backlash of bickering, the backlash of bickering.

Father, have Your way in this place today; touch Your people, give us ears to hear. Lord, let it penetrate the frustrations that we might feel; let Your voice be the loudest voice in our lives right now. For the next few moments, help us to drown out everything else and just hear what You would say. Lord, I ask You to use me to talk to Your people today, and when it is all said and done, we’ll give You the glory. In Jesus' name, somebody shout Amen!

On your way down, just tell somebody there is a backlash to bickering. There it is: Mariba is the place of arguing, the place of strife, the place of contention, the place of conflict. The Bible says that these were the waters of Meribah. Now, that verse in and of itself is a bit of an oxymoron because when you think about water, you think of something that is life-giving, something that is life-sustaining. But when you think about bickering and arguing, that is something that is life-draining; it is exhausting to be in that kind of atmosphere. It’s a totally different kind of substance, and yet the Bible says such were the waters of Meribah.

Today, we are just—let me back up for a second—in case you don’t know who I’m talking about today, I’m talking about this man who is called Moses. Just the mention of the name Moses brings up so many different images in our minds because, if you think of Moses in one aspect, you think of the movie «The Ten Commandments,» and you think about how it was Charlton Heston who played the life of Moses. You think about how handsome, strong, and robust he was in «The Ten Commandments,» and then you can see him in «The Prince of Egypt,» where he was trim, slim, quick-witted, funny, loving, and virtually ageless. You might also have, when I say the name Moses, an image of somebody standing at a burning bush, taking off his shoes because he was standing in the presence of God. You might think of him stirring up a cloud of dust as he moved around the Egyptian palace. You might also think of the man who brought the children of Israel over the Red Sea, over the walled-up Red Sea.

There are so many different images of him, but whatever the image of Moses that comes to your mind, what I want you to remember is that Moses was a remarkable man. He was a selfless man who demonstrated selfless dedication in spite of the fact that he lived with some of the same frustrations we do. He faced struggles like we face. Sometimes, he did it wrong; sometimes, he handled things the absolute wrong way. He had sin, and he had shortcomings, but he was still God’s man; he was still God’s leader. God had chosen him, and he was actually the pastor of the Old Testament. That’s who Moses was. He became a man useful in the sovereign hands of God for a sovereign purpose. His name, Moses, means «drawn out»; he is the drawn-out one. You will remember his mother was a Hebrew, and she ended up putting him in a basket so that the decree to kill the children under the age of two would not affect him. She put him in a basket because she really loved him, and sometimes, when you truly love something, you have to put it in a basket and watch it go from afar.

He was sent down the river and was picked up by Pharaoh’s daughter, by a princess. He was drawn out of the water as a baby, but once he was drawn out, then God began to draw a leader out of the very one He had drawn from the water. And then God goes on to the exceeding greatness of God; He draws a nation out of the leader that He drew from the water. And so on and on is the goodness of God because God is always about drawing out. Just when you think that there is nothing left in you, God will draw something out of you that you didn’t even know you had. Do I have a witness in here today? Just when this business runs out, God will turn around and draw another business out of you. He’ll draw compassion out of you; He’ll draw love when you thought love was completely gone. God will draw some kind of love out of you. God is in the drawing-out business, and He draws things out of us that we didn’t even know were there. If you think about Adam, He drew Adam out of the dirt, and then He drew Eve out of Adam, whom He drew out of the dirt. Then He drew the family out of Eve, whom He drew out of Adam, who was drawn from the dirt. Lastly, He drew a nation out of the family that He brought forth.