Discovering Destiny (Part 9): God Already Knew The Decision You Haven’t Made Yet

https://youtu.be/GpV_-SVqFNQ?si=6Ew608m50hZKY9dM

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.

Yesterday in our “Discovering Destiny” series, we stood with Moses at the burning bush and learned that the God who never let him fit in was actually setting him apart. Today, we stay at that same bush, but we zoom in on one detail most people read right past: God promised to do two things, and then He handed Moses only one of them.

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:

Exodus 3:7-8 ERV“Then the Lord said, ‘I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt… So I will go down and rescue my people from the Egyptians. I will take them from that land and lead them to a good land, a land filled with many good things. It is a land flowing with milk and honey.'”

Exodus 3:10 ERV“So now I am sending you to Pharaoh. Go! Lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

Supporting scriptures:

Numbers 20:11-12 ERV“Then Moses raised his arm and hit the rock twice. Water came out of the rock… But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘You did not trust me enough to honor me… So you will not lead these people into the land I am giving them.'”

Romans 8:29 ERV“God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.”

Numbers 23:19 ERV“God is not a man, so he will not lie. God is not a human being, so he does not change his mind. If he says he will do something, then he will do it. If he makes a promise, then he will do what he promised.”

Joshua 1:2 ERV“My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must get ready to cross the Jordan River and go into the land I am giving to the Israelites.”

Setting the Stage:

At the bush, God opens His heart to Moses. He says He has seen His people’s suffering, and He is going to do something about it. In effect, God says, “I am going to bring them OUT of Egypt, and I am going to bring them INTO a land flowing with milk and honey.” Two clear promises. Out, and in.

Then God turns and gives Moses his marching orders. “Go. Bring my people OUT of Egypt.” That is it. He never says, “And you will lead them in.” Most people skip right past that gap. I want to slow down on it, because hidden in what God did not say is one of the most stunning truths in the Bible about how God plans your life.

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

1. God Showed Moses The Whole Plan, Then Handed Him One Piece Of It.

God did not hide the destination from Moses. He spelled out the entire journey from the very beginning. But there is a gap between what God promised and what God assigned, and that gap will change the way you read your own life.

How this applies to you:

— The plan was not even new at the bush. Genesis 15:13-14 ERV has God telling Abraham, 400 years in advance, that his descendants would be enslaved and then “leave that land” for the land of promise. Moses was handed a 400-year-old assignment.

— Exodus 3:7-8 ERV has God promising to “rescue my people from the Egyptians” and to “lead them to a good land… flowing with milk and honey.” That is the full plan, the exit, and the inheritance.

— God always sees the whole journey before He gives you the first step.

— Then Exodus 3:10 ERV narrows it down: “Go! Lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Out of Egypt, and that was the whole of Moses’ assignment.

— God showed Moses the destination but only assigned him the departure (half of it).

— The promised land was real, and God fully intended to give it. But He never put the words “you will bring them in” in Moses’ commission, because the plan was always bigger than Moses’ piece of it.

— You can be carrying a real assignment and still not be carrying the whole assignment. You are not responsible for carrying out something that is not part of your portion.  

— Some of you are frustrated because you can see the entire vision, but you have only been handed one part. Stop straining for the parts God never assigned you. Do your piece, and trust God with the rest. Remember, God is God, and you are not. 

2. God Already Knew The Decision Moses Had Not Made Yet.

Here is why God only assigned Moses the first half. 40 years down the road, at a place called Meribah, Moses would lose his temper and strike a rock he had been told to speak to, and that one act would cost him the promised land. Keep that moment in mind, because it explains everything about the assignment God gave at the bush.

How this applies to you:

— Numbers 20:11-12 ERV records Moses striking the rock, and God telling him, “you will not lead these people into the land I am giving them.” The consequence was real, and it was tied to a real decision Moses made.

— Moses’ choice was genuinely his, and so was the consequence. And this point is absolutely critical because some people think that Predestination means our decisions and actions don’t matter. No, it just means that God doesn’t have to wait for us to make a decision to know what we’re going to decide. 

— God did not find out about the rock at Meribah. He knew it at the bush, and that is exactly why, 40 years earlier, He never assigned Moses the job of leading them in.

— God did not react to Moses’ failure; He had already planned around it.

— Romans 8:29 ERV says God “knew them before he made the world.” His foreknowledge is not a guess, and it is not a reaction. He sees the end from the beginning, including the choices you have not made yet.

— Foreknowledge is not the same as forcing someone to do something.

— Hear me clearly, because this matters. God knowing Moses would strike the rock did not make Moses strike it. Moses was responsible for his own choice. But God, who lives in your yesterday, today, and tomorrow at the same time, was never caught off guard by it. He built the plan with full knowledge of the man.

3. God Will Not Make A Promise He Has To Take Back.

Think about why God worded the commission so carefully. What God chose not to promise Moses tells you something staggering about His character, and about every promise He has ever made to you.

How this applies to you:

— God made this same promise to Abraham four centuries before Moses, and He kept it right on schedule. If God will not break a 400-year-old promise, He is not about to break the one He spoke over you.

— Numbers 23:19 ERV says, “God is not a man, so he will not lie… If he makes a promise, then he will do what he promised.” Once God speaks a promise, He will not take it back.

— God never promised Moses the promised land, because He was never going to take it back.

— Walk through the logic with me. If God had told Moses “you will enter,” then either God would have to break His word, or He would have to let a disqualified man in. God refused both, so He simply never made that promise, guarding His own integrity in advance.

— Every promise God has ever made you was spoken with His eyes wide open to everything you would ever do.

— So when you stumble into something you are sure is disqualifying, understand that God already considered it before He ever spoke. If that thing could cancel the promise, He never would have made the promise. The promise itself is your proof that He already weighed it and deemed it non-disqualifying.

— The promise still standing is the evidence your failure was already accounted for.

— Do not turn this into a license to sin, because grace never works that way. This is not God overlooking your choices; it is His foreknowledge being so complete that the promise already accounts for them. You remain responsible, but you are not in danger, because God does not gamble His Word on a future He has not already seen.

4. Your Assignment Is One Leg Of A Relay God Already Mapped.

There is one more gift hidden in this story. The promised land did not fail to happen just because Moses did not finish the whole journey. God was never depending on a single man to carry the entire plan. Watch how He had already covered it.

How this applies to you:

— Moses led Israel out of Egypt. Joshua led them into the land. Joshua 1:2 ERV has God telling Joshua to “cross the Jordan River and go into the land I am giving to the Israelites.” The plan moved forward on two sets of shoulders, not one.

— God’s vision is always bigger than one person.

— Before Moses ever struck that rock, God had already been preparing Joshua. The grace and power Moses would not carry into Canaan had already been stored up for the next leader. God is never without a plan, because He is never without a person.

— Your assignment is one leg of a relay, not the entire race.

— This frees you from a crushing weight. You do not have to carry every part of the vision. You run your leg with everything you have, and then you pass the baton.

— Finish your part, and trust God with the parts that were never yours.

— Discovering your destiny includes discovering its limits. Moses’ assignment was “out,” not “in,” and that was not a failure; it was his lane. Run your lane all the way to the line, and let the God who already mapped the whole race bring the rest to pass.

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that You planned my life with full knowledge of me!

You showed me the vision, and You will handle the parts I cannot!

Every promise You gave me, You gave knowing everything I would do!

You will never take back a word You have spoken over me!

If my failure could disqualify me, You never would have promised me!

Your foreknowledge never forces me, but it always covers me!

I will honor You by making my next decision Your way!

My assignment is my lane, and I will run it all the way to the line!

I carry my part, I pass the baton, and I trust You with the rest!

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!