WEEKEND RECHARGE!

February 28, 2026

Monday, February 23—Exodus 1:1-14 Moses’ Context
Tuesday, February 24—Exodus 1:15-2:10 Moses Rescued
Wednesday, February 25—Exodus 2:11-22 Moses’ Training
Thursday, February 26—Exodus 2:23-3:10 Moses and the Bush
Friday, February 27—Exodus 3:11-4:23 Moses’ Excuses

A few weeks ago, I asked those in the Living Grounded community—When did you own your faith? We’ve received some great stories I want to share. It’s not too late to submit your “owning your faith” story. We’d love to hear it and use it to encourage others!

WHEN DID YOU OWN YOUR FAITH?
JOHN’S STORY

John P. Zanker
February 12, 2026
It was October 1988 when my wife of one year and I found out we were expecting our first child. As a non-believer at the time, I did have a sense that God was working in my life. The following month, November 1988, God revealed Himself to me, and I made my profession of faith and asked Him to save me by the work of Jesus.

As for “owning my faith,” well, that happened soon after.

In February 1989, I went to my employers and asked for a raise and told them my wife and I were buying a house. We bought the house and moved in two weeks before our daughter, Lauren, was born, on June 12, 1989.

Here it comes—one month later, in July, I went into work and was told the company was closing down, so I packed up my desk and belongings and went home. Kristen greeted me and asked, “Why are you home?” I said, “They closed, I lost my job.”

As the husband, provider, new homeowner, and new father, losing your income was overwhelming to say the least. When I shared with my immediate family, they said I’m being punished by God for leaving our family’s “Mainline Denomination “, so no help or encouragement there.

BUT God!!!!

I only collected unemployment for two months, got a new job in my career field, started serving in youth ministry at our then Presbyterian Church, and met many fellow believers who walked life with us, as now I OWNED MY FAITH!!! 

OVERVIEW

EXODUS 1:1-14: MOSES’ STORY: FORMED IN THE FIRE

God Grows His People According to His Promise (Ex. 1:7)

• God keeps his covenant promises.
• God promised Abraham countless descendants (Genesis 12:2; 15:5).
• The multiplication in Egypt shows God’s faithfulness across generations.
• What began as seventy became a nation—God’s Word never fails (Isaiah 55:11).
• God works through ordinary faithfulness.
• Joseph served faithfully for decades (Genesis 50:20).
• Israel’s growth happened quietly over time.
• Long obedience in the same direction builds lasting impact.
• God builds before he delivers.
• Before redemption from Egypt, God formed a people.
• God often prepares the vessel before pouring out the mission.
• Seasons of obscurity may be seasons of multiplication.

God’s People Often Face Opposition in God’s Plan (Ex. 1:10)

• Success can provoke fear in the world.
• A new king arose who “did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8).
• Faithfulness in one generation does not guarantee favor in the next.
• God’s people must anchor identity in him, not cultural approval.
• Oppression is often strategic.
• Israel was enslaved to build Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11).
• The enemy seeks to weaken influence and limit future growth.
• Spiritual opposition today often targets family, leadership, and fruitfulness (1 Peter 5:8).
• Circumstances do not cancel calling.
• Egypt’s ruler feared Israel would “rise up” and take possession.
• What Pharaoh feared was God’s future promise unfolding.
• God’s purposes cannot be thwarted by political power (Psalm 2:1–4). 

God Multiplies His People Through Pressure (Ex. 1:12)

• Pressure produces perseverance.
• Hardship refined Israel into a unified people.
• James 1:2–4 reminds us that testing produces maturity.
• God uses difficulty to form strength and endurance.
• God’s blessing is not stopped by suffering.
• Ruthless slavery could not stop multiplication.
• Romans 8:31 — “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
• God’s sovereignty outweighs earthly authority.
• God prepares leaders in hidden hardship.
• Moses would be born into this environment of oppression.
• Leadership often rises from seasons of injustice and limitation.
• God shapes humility, courage, and dependence in adversity.

EXODUS 1:15-2:10: MOSES’ STORY: DELIVERED TO DELIVER

God Grows His People in Hard Places

• God’s promises outlive generations.
  • God foretold 400 years of affliction in Genesis 15:13.
  • From Joseph’s favor to Pharaoh’s oppression, God’s covenant remained intact.
  • Delay never means denial in God’s redemptive plan.
• Oppression cannot cancel divine blessing.
  • Slavery made their lives bitter (Ex. 1:13–14).
  • Yet their numbers increased under pressure (Ex. 1:12).
  • What Pharaoh meant for harm, God used for growth.
• God works even when he seems silent.
  • No miracles are recorded in Exodus 1—yet God is active.
  • Growth itself was evidence of his faithfulness.
  • Silence is not absence; waiting is not abandonment. 

God Honors Courageous Faith

• The fear of God overrules the fear of man.
  • The midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, defied Pharaoh.
  • They risked their lives to protect life.
  • Holy fear produces holy courage.
• Faith acts before outcomes are known.
  • Amram and Jochebed hid their son for three months (Heb. 11:23).
  • They were “not afraid of the king’s edict.”
  • Courage is obedience in uncertainty.
• God sees and rewards hidden faithfulness.
  • God dealt favorably with the midwives (Ex. 1:20–21).
  • A simple act of obedience shaped redemptive history.
  • Heaven records what earthly rulers overlook.

God Orchestrates Deliverance Through Ordinary Means

• God uses unlikely people.
  • A Levite mother.
  • A watchful sister.
  • Pharaoh’s own daughter.
  • God positioned each person strategically.
• God turns instruments of death into vessels of salvation.
  • The Nile was meant to be a grave.
  • The basket became an ark of rescue.
  • The palace of oppression became the training ground for deliverance.
• Rescue points to a greater Redeemer.
  • Moses was “drawn out” to draw others out.
  • Deliverance is the theme of Exodus.
  • God writes stories of salvation that echo forward to Christ.

EXODUS 2:11-22: MOSES’ STORY: DESERT TRAINING

Zeal Without Timing Leads to Failure

• Privilege does not replace preparation.
  • Moses was educated in Egypt’s wisdom (Acts 7:22).
  • God planted a desire to deliver in his heart (Ex. 2:11).
  • Calling must align with God’s timing.
• Taking matters into our own hands brings consequences.
  • Moses killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand (Ex. 2:12).
  • His secret was exposed (Ex. 2:14).
  • Pharaoh sought to kill him (Ex. 2:15).
• Passion must be surrendered to God’s process.
  • Moses believed he was ready.
  • Israel rejected him.
  • God was not finished shaping him.

God Uses the Wilderness as His Training Ground

• God moves us from prominence to dependence.
  • From palace to pasture.
  • From influence to isolation.
  • From recognition to refinement.
• Faithfulness in small rescues prepares us for greater ones.
  • Moses defended the sisters at the well (Ex. 2:17).
  • His rescuer’s heart remained intact.
  • Character is proven in quiet, unseen ways.
• Waiting is not wasting.
  • Forty years in Midian.
  • Shepherding before shepherding a nation.
  • God shapes leaders slowly.

God Forms Identity in the In-Between

• Moses learned he was a sojourner.
  • He named his son Gershom — “alien/sojourner.”
  • Midian was a stopover, not a destination.
  • Displacement clarified identity.
• Moses learned dependence.
  • He named his son Eliezer — “My God is help” (Ex. 18:4).
  • He acknowledged deliverance from Pharaoh.
  • Identity shifted from Egyptian prince to servant of Elohim.
• God prepares privately before promoting publicly.
  • Marriage and family formed stability.
  • Shepherding cultivated humility.
  • Desert years built spiritual depth.

EXODUS 2:23-3:10: MOSES’ STORY: THE FLAME OF FIRE

God Hears and Remembers His Covenant

• God is a covenant-keeping God.
  • God’s delays are not God’s forgetfulness.
  • His promises are rooted in his character, not our circumstances.
  • He works according to his redemptive timeline.
• God sees, hears, and knows.
  • Israel felt abandoned, but heaven was attentive.
  • Suffering never escapes God’s awareness.
  • God’s compassion precedes God’s action.
• God acts when the time is right.
  • Divine silence is often divine preparation.
  • God moves history toward his promises.
  • Deliverance begins with God, not man.

God Reveals Himself in Holiness and Grace

• The holy God draws near.
  • God initiates the encounter.
  • Curiosity led Moses into calling.
  • God meets ordinary people in ordinary places.
• The covenant God identifies himself.
  • He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  • His promises span generations.
  • Relationship defines his revelation.
• The presence of God makes the ground holy.
  • Holiness is defined by God’s presence.
  • Reverence is the right response to revelation.
  • God’s nearness transforms common space into sacred space.

God Sends Redeemed People on Redemptive Missions

• God’s heart is for deliverance.
  • God is moved by oppression and injustice.
  • Deliverance is central to God’s story.
  • Salvation begins in God’s compassion.
• God uses prepared but unlikely servants.
  • Moses’ wilderness years were not wasted.
  • God prepares leaders in obscurity.
  • Age and past failure do not disqualify God’s servants.
• God’s mission flows from God’s presence.
  • Calling follows encounter.
  • God sends those who have stood on holy ground.
  • Obedience is the pathway to participation in God’s story.

EXODUS 3:11—4:23: MOSES’ STORY: NO MORE EXCUSES

God’s Call Confronts our Insecurity

• Moses’ identity was shaped by past failure (Ex. 2:11–15).
• Forty years in Midian dulled his confidence.
• God did not answer Moses with self-esteem, but with his presence.

God’s Character Calms our Doubt

• “I AM” reveals God as self-existent and sovereign.
• God does not depend on validation or credentials.
• The mission succeeds because of God’s nature, not the messenger’s strength.

God’s Power Overcomes our Resistance

• Moses once was “mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).
• His limitation was not ability—but willingness.
• God’s anger in 4:14 shows that persistent resistance is not humility—it is disobedience.