Discovering Destiny (Part 10): You Are Not Too Old, Too Late, Or Too Far Gone

https://youtu.be/K8Mxmfr_ZbI?si=DeuimuRw86p_U-QB

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

Friday, in our “Discovering Destiny” series, we learned that God knew the decision Moses had not made yet, that His foreknowledge is not a guess and not a reaction, and that the promise still standing over your life is proof He already accounted for your failures. Today, we stay with that same theme and turn it on the one thing the enemy uses most to disqualify you: your past, and your age. I want to show you that neither one is powerful enough to cancel what God planned before time began.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Acts 7:30 ERV“Forty years later Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush.”

Exodus 7:7 ERV“Moses was 80 years old at the time, and Aaron was 83.”

Supporting scriptures:

Exodus 4:19 ERV“While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, ‘Go back to Egypt, because the men who wanted to kill you are dead now.'”

Genesis 12:4 ERV“So Abram left Haran just like the Lord said. And Lot went with him. At this time Abram was 75 years old.”

Romans 11:29 ERV“God never changes his mind about the people he calls. He never decides to take back the blessings he has given them.”

Deuteronomy 34:7 ERV“Moses was 120 years old when he died. He was as strong as ever, and his eyes were still good.”

Setting the Stage:

Let me remind you who was standing at that bush. Moses was not a fresh-faced young man with a clean record and his whole life in front of him. He was a murderer. At 40 years old, he had killed an Egyptian, buried the body in the sand, and run for his life. He spent the next 40 years on the backside of the desert as a wanted man, tending another man’s sheep, far from the palace, far from his people, and as far from his dream as a man can get.

Do the math on the man, because his whole life breaks into three sets of 40. He spent 40 years in the palace. He spent 40 years in the wilderness. And he would go on to spend 40 more years leading Israel, dying at 120 years old, still strong, with his eyes still good. But at the bush, he is only two-thirds through the story. He is 80 years old, with a felony in his past and a death sentence still hanging over his head in Egypt. By every human measurement, his life was over. He was too old to start over and too guilty to be used. That is the man God walks up to at the bush. And God does not bring up the murder. God does not say, “Moses, you blew it 40 years ago, and you are too old now anyway.” God hands an 80-year-old fugitive the assignment of a lifetime, and Moses lives 40 more years to carry it out.

I am telling you this because somebody reading this has written themselves off. You think you are too old, you think you waited too long, or you think you did something too bad. Watch what God does with a man who was all three.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Your Past Did Not Cancel What God Promised.

Moses had a record. He was a murderer and a fugitive, a man who buried a body in the sand and spent four decades believing he had buried his calling along with it. There had to be a voice in his head at that bush asking, “How could God ever use a man with blood on his hands?” But God did not flinch at Moses’ past. He sent him right back to the scene of the crime with a divine assignment, because what God has promised can never be canceled.

How this applies to you:

— Exodus 4:19 ERV has God telling Moses, “Go back to Egypt, because the men who wanted to kill you are dead now.” God did not send him back in spite of his past. He sent him back because the past was settled and the assignment was still good.

— Your worst day cannot cancel God’s plan.

— Moses buried that Egyptian in the sand and assumed he had buried his purpose with him. He spent 40 years believing the dream died the day that man did. But you cannot bury what God ordained before the foundation of the world.

— The blood on Moses’ hands did not disqualify the call on his life.

— Here is what will set somebody free today. God did not show up at the bush for the polished young prince Moses used to be. He showed up for the broken-down, washed-up, 80-year-old fugitive Moses had become. He came for the man who was old with the record, not a man who was young with an impressive résumé.

— What you did is not bigger than what God already said.

— Some of you keep a folder of mistakes you replay on a loop, convinced it canceled your purpose. Stop it! God already factored in everything you would ever do before He ever spoke the promise, and He made the promise anyway. 

— In a merit-based world, It’s time for you to accept God’s grace-based goodness. 

2. You Are Not Too Old, And You Are Not Too Late.

Listen to the ages in this story, because they will preach to you. Abraham did not start his walk with God until he was 75. Moses did not start his real assignment until he was 80. There had to be a moment when Moses thought, “I am an old man. Whatever window I had closed decades ago.” But God does not read your birth certificate to decide your future. He specializes in getting started when the world thinks you’re finished.

How this applies to you:

— Genesis 12:4 ERV says, “Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.” The father of our faith did not even begin his journey with God until an age when most men are planning their retirement.

— Abraham was 75 when he started, and Moses was 80.

— Exodus 7:7 ERV says, “Moses was 80 years old at the time, and Aaron was 83,” when they walked in to confront the most powerful man on earth. God launched his public ministry at 80, the very age the world hands you a rocking chair.

— You are not too late, because God’s clock and man’s calendar are not the same.

— The world says the window closes with age. Heaven says the window opens when God speaks. The God who is the I AM stands in your past, your present, and your future all at once, so He is never late to your appointment.

— It is never too late to start what God planned before time began.

— Maybe you are reading this convinced your best years are behind you. Hear me. If God could commission an 80-year-old shepherd and send a 75-year-old nomad, then your age is not an obstacle to Him. It is just the backdrop for His glory.

3. God Never Threw You Away.

For 40 years, Moses heard nothing from heaven. No fire, no angel, no voice, just sheep and sand and silence. It would have been easy to conclude that God had moved on and picked somebody else. But the silence was never a sign that God had thrown him away. The whole time Moses thought he was forgotten, his name was still on the assignment in heaven.

How this applies to you:

— Romans 11:29 ERV says, “God never changes his mind about the people he calls. He never decides to take back the blessings he has given them.” Another translation uses the word “irrevocable” in this verse. Whatever God called you to and gifted you for, He has not changed His mind about it.

— God does not hand out gifts and then demand them back.

— For 40 years Moses got nothing but silence, and silence has a way of feeling like rejection. But a delay is not a denial, and a quiet season is not a closed door. God was not gone. God was getting him ready.

— The entire time Moses was tending another man’s flock in obscurity, the promise was still on the books in heaven. God had not erased his name. He was just waiting for the right page in the story.

— You are not the one exception God finally gave up on. God has never given up on anyone, and He will not give up on you. 

— I have lived long enough to tell you this from my own life. There were seasons I was certain I had disqualified myself, and God had every right to set me on a shelf, but He never did. God is more focused on your destiny than your failures. And once again, he knew your failures when he established your destiny. 

4. Your Best Years Can Be On The Other Side Of Your Worst Mistake.

Here is the detail that ought to put a shout in you. Moses lived to be 120 years old. His greatest assignment came after the murder, after the exile, and after the four decades everybody would have called wasted. 

How this applies to you:

— Deuteronomy 34:7 ERV says, “Moses was 120 years old when he died. He was as strong as ever, and his eyes were still good.” Do the math with me. Moses lived 40 of his most powerful years after the age of 80.

— Moses’ greatest chapter started after his greatest failure.

— Everything Moses is remembered for: the plagues, parting the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, leading a nation out of slavery, writing the first five books of the Bible. All of it happened after he committed murder, after he spent 40 years in the wilderness, and after he thought he had ruined his life. His best work came after his worst moments.

— When you make a mistake, the devil wants you to put a period on it, but God will explain to you that it is just a comma. The only thing permanent about your mistakes is the stain that has been left on your life so that God can get greater glory. 

— It is not too late to pick up the assignment from right where you stand.

— So stop letting yesterday cast a vote in your tomorrow. Don’t judge your future by your past.

— In this world, people judge you by your past. In other words, they look at your resume when making an assessment of who you are. In God’s kingdom, the Father does not look at your resume. He looks at your destiny, so he’s actually looking at your future when he looks at your present. And then he reveals it to you. The more clearly you can see the vision God has given you, the stronger you will feel the pull towards it. This way, your calling is calling you.  

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that my past is not powerful enough to cancel my purpose!

My worst day did not erase what You planned before the foundation of the world!

The blood of Jesus settled my record, so my mistakes do not disqualify Your call!

I am not too old, because You started Abraham at 75 and Moses at 80!

I am not too late, because Your clock is not bound by man’s calendar!

You never threw me away, and You never took back Your gifts!

Your silence was never Your goodbye, and Your delay was never Your denial!

My greatest chapter can begin on the other side of my greatest failure!

I refuse to let yesterday cast a vote in my tomorrow!

This is THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!