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Are you feeling lost and at a “Well what now?” point in your life? We all have been at one time or another. In this episode of Grace and Peace Radio we’ll look to the extraordinary circumstances of someone who found himself at a “Well, what now?” point in his life, and was even sitting at an actual well!
He was raised in incredible wealth and privilege, and grew up to work in the highest offices of his country. A well meaning but ill-timed action on his part meant that he had to flee for his life. At 40 years old and sitting by a well in the middle of nowhere. He had no clue what to do with his life, or what would come next. Sound familiar?
I’ve talked to a few guys recently, and the common theme that’s come up is this sort of feeling lost, either kind of stuck in a career or not really sure what to do next.
I’ve talked to several men, especially recently, actually, who might say that the man’s predicament sounds very much like their own. What lessons can we draw from the remarkable story of Moses for our own lives today? We’ll talk about it next on Grace and Peace Radio.
Anthony Russo 1:07
Welcome to Grace and Peace Radio. Grace and Peace Radio is a Christian living blog and podcast dedicated to engaging conversations about applying God’s Word to everyday life. Thanks for joining us for today’s episode. I’m your host, Anthony Russo. And it’s my hope that you will be encouraged and God will be glorified. And with that, let’s start the show.
Lost, Stuck and Wondering “Well, What Now?”
Anthony Russo 1:34
I’ve talked to a few guys recently, and the common theme that’s come up is this sort of feeling lost, either kind of stuck in a career or not really sure what to do next. And I admit it’s something I even struggled with. Recently in my own Bible reading. I was reading about the story of Moses, and how he ends up leaving Egypt the first time and I want to make some applications that I hope are helpful. I’m going to start in Exodus 2:11. And we all know the story. Moses kills an Egyptian who was mistreating a fellow Hebrew, and he apparently gets found out. Let’s pick it up from there.
One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watch them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian, beating a Hebrew, one of his own people glancing this way in that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hit him in the sand.
The next day you went out and saw to Hebrews fighting? He asked the one in the wrong, Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew? The man said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you kill the Egyptian?
Then Moses was afraid and thought, what I did must have become known. When Pharaoh heard this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
Exodus 2:11 NIV 1984
Feeling Lost: A Real Mid-Life Crisis
Anthony Russo 2:56
Now let’s stop there for a minute because we have to realize that we know the rest of the story. But let’s put ourselves there with Moses by the Well, let’s stop and think as if we don’t know the rest of the story. Moses at this point has lost everything. He’s about 40 years old. He’s lost his position in Egypt. He’s on the run. Pharaoh wants to kill him. He went from being raised in Pharaoh’s court and having all the privileges there to now being alone on the run, sitting at some well out in the middle of nowhere. That’s a really hard place to be.
Anthony Russo 3:33
And some of you listening, you’ve been like, Oh, yeah, I know that feeling. That’s what I wanted to talk about today. Let’s talk about feeling lost mid life and not knowing really, what the rest of God’s story was for your life. I mean, wow. Moses had no idea how God was going to use him. He couldn’t even imagine what all was about to happen. But instead, he’s just at this well, sitting there. When we come back from The break, we’ll take a look at some observations and then make some applications for us today.
Anthony Russo 4:09
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That Particular Well
Anthony Russo 4:40
So here we are looking at the life of Moses at this particular point where he’s fled Egypt, and he’s sitting by this well wondering, what’s, what’s it going to happen next? Well, first of all, we have to realize that he was sitting at that particular Well, you see, Moses didn’t know God led him exactly to that well for what would happen next. In fact, let’s read it.
Now one of the priests of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs, to water their father’s flocks. Some shepherds came along and drove them away. But Moses got up came to their rescue and water their flock when the girls returned. Reuel their father, he asked them, Why have you returned so early today? They answered an Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. And he even drew water for us and watered our water the flock.
Exodus 2:16-19 NIV 1984
Anthony Russo 5:32
He asked the daughters, why did you leave them there and not invite him back to have something to eat? And so Moses goes and then ends up living there and Reuel gives him one of his daughters and he has a son there. For one thing, God led Moses specifically to that Well, were rebels daughters would water the flocks. So that was God’s providence and leading in there. We don’t always know why God has us where he has us in life. But God Does, but God does. Moses had no idea. All that was about to happen. But yet God in His providence led him to that well.
From Feeling Lost to Feeling Found
Act as God Designed You & Do the Next Thing
Anthony Russo 6:11
A second observation for us is that Moses acted the way God designed him. And he did the next thing in front of him. It’s interesting to see how Moses came to their defense. It says Moses got up and came to the rescue when they were harassed by the shepherds. So it’s interesting to see that Moses apparently he was just naturally wired to be a defender of the weak and a helper and a friend of the helpless. I think that’s an interesting insight into Moses’ personality, and how God designed him.
And of course, when the girls returned to Reuel their father he asked them, Why have you returned so early today? And then in their answer, they said an Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock. So the fact that they use the word “rescued”, they said they were rescued from the shepherd and didn’t elaborate. Oh, well, they were harassing us, etc. It’s obvious that the shepherds were a known problem. So apparently, all they had to say was we were rescued from the shepherds. And their father knew exactly what they meant.
Feeling Lost in the Middle
Anthony Russo 7:18
So we see that Moses did exactly how God designed him. And also Moses did the very next thing in front of him. And I think those are two key things for us as we’re sort of waiting by the well in our lives, to just keep living and doing as God designed us, and also do the next thing in front of us. And then also, there’s this feeling of being lost in the middle.
Anthony Russo 7:45
And Paul Tripp makes this excellent point in his book Lost in the Middle, which is where the name comes from. This whole idea that many of us at midlife, it’s a time to feel lost in the middle. But the point is: we’re in the middle. We don’t know the rest of the story. We don’t know what God is doing. We don’t know why we’re at the place we’re at. But God does.
Later on actually in the next section there in Exodus, in the burning bush section, if you go back and read that, the Lord lays out the entire process and what he’s about to do. He explains that he’s sending Moses back. And he’s going to be the one to free the people that God has seen, and God has known and God has heard and God has come down. He says, he’s going to use Moses to do all this. And even that Pharaoh is going to say, No, and God’s going to override that. And the people are going to actually get the plunder the Egyptians, God lays out this whole story to Moses and says exactly what’s going to happen.
Anthony Russo 8:51
Now, it would be great if the Lord did that in our lives, but he rarely if ever does. Nevertheless, God knows exactly. If you’re in Christ today, God knows exactly what’s going to happen in your life. Obviously, he knows what’s going to happen in every life. But for those of us who are walking in Christ, and what he has purposed for us, God knows, it’s already planned out. God has saved you, he elected you from eternity past. He chose you to be saved. And so yes, he has a purpose in that.
Priority #1: Don’t Be Lost, Get Saved
Anthony Russo 9:27
Now, see, that’s a good point too, because everything we’re talking about, doesn’t apply if you don’t know Jesus Christ personally. If you’re not born again, if you haven’t turned from your sins, to follow after God, then you’re more lost than Moses was, and you need to get saved. You need to look to the Lord.
God Has a Purpose (And It’s Not Cheesy)
Anthony Russo 9:50
Now, as far as this whole idea of Christians and having a purpose, you know, today, especially in American evangelicalism, this whole idea of purpose, it can be pretty cheesy. But the fact is God really does have a purpose for all of his people. And it’s not cheesy. You know, we think of the word purpose today. And it’s tainted by the prosperity gospel, and this modern American evangelical purpose driven fad and whatnot. So it’s tainted, in some respects, but it is nevertheless true. God has some purpose for your life.
Anthony Russo 10:27
Spurgeon makes this point that Why doesn’t God just take people up to heaven? Immediately? Why didn’t he just save them and then bring them up to heaven. The reason that you and I are left here is so that we might glorify God in this world, that we can make God’s name great among the nations. And we do that by what we do and how we do it. And we do that to all of those around us. So that is chiefly our purpose.
Anthony Russo 11:50
Well, I hope that helps. The Lord bless you. And I pray that he reveals His will for your life soon and gives you patience until that time.
By the way, if you’d like a copy of today’s show notes, just visit www.graceandpeaceradio.com/5.
Well, that wraps up our show for today. Be sure to join us next time as we dig deeper into God’s word. Apply it to our lives. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, please tell others you can visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/GraceandPeaceRadio or you can visit us on the web at GraceandPeaceRadio.com.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Thanks for listening!
Grace and Peace,
Anthony & Amy
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