Whenever God calls you to do something, as soon as you sense God's hand upon you, as soon as you have the briefest understanding of His anointing, the flesh takes immediate notice. The flesh, that old nature within you, will immediately try to wrap itself around your mission. The flesh will attempt to control, possess, manage, and manipulate your calling for its own benefit.
God is always working, attempting to free you of the power of the flesh and move you more and more into the power of the Spirit. In accomplishing this, God will arrange crisis moments in your life where you are brought face-to-face with your flesh and the claim it makes on God's calling. I would like to give you an example of how the flesh attempted to assume control over the mission God had given.
The story of Moses began with a vision in the minds of his parents. I think that deep down, they sensed that he was no ordinary child. I am sure they were not the first Hebrew parents who attempted to save their child; however, in this case, our Lord laid upon their hearts a seemingly bold and reckless plan to save his life. As his mother made her way to the banks of the Nile, her son was entombed in a little basket. The river was likely already running red with the blood of infant Hebrew boys.
She had to die of a mother's instinct to guard and protect her child. Yet, to save his life, she had to let him go. She had to place him in the very river the enemy had ordained to be his grave. However, this same river would be the place of his resurrection. The river, which should have been his end, became his new beginning. As you know, his mother received him back again into her loving arms. But now, things would be quite different. The child she lovingly placed into the Nile as a slave was now a prince. Do you see it, his death and resurrection? Initiated by God, but realized only when his parents were willing to let him go.
Moses became one of the most powerful men in Egypt. He was strong, intelligent, and highly educated. Moses had it all. A bright future lay before him in Egypt. Yet, with each passing year, more and more, the bondage of his kinsman would weigh upon his mind. As the dream began to intensify, he slowly received a glimpse of God's calling upon his life. Moses soon realized that he wanted to be the one to deliver his people from their bondage.
However, as it usually does, the flesh started to exercise control over his calling. Later, seeing a Hebrew slave being abused, he murdered the Egyptian task master. At best, even if he had gotten away with it, he would have temporarily rescued one slave. Do you see how short that falls from the plan God had in mind? This was but a cheap imitation of God's plan of deliverance.
"For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not." Acts 7:25-26
Moses seemed to have no doubts regarding his ability to rescue Israel. He was also confident that the people would recognize his leadership. He felt that he was God's man, and this was God's time. However, Moses was not trusting in God; he was trusting in himself. The flesh had taken over and was building itself up in godless pride and arrogance.
Then Moses experienced something he had not anticipated. He faced failure, rejection, and fear. How can this be? God had placed this mission in his heart. The mission was just. How could he fail? The truth is that Moses needed the flesh to fail. The weakness of the flesh had to be demonstrated. Now, God could identify Moses' strength as weakness, and, given his recent experience, Moses could not argue the point.
Forty years passed, and God finally spoke to Moses, telling him it was now time to go and rescue Israel. By now, the Moses who was so confident that he could easily rescue his people no longer existed. Out there in the desert, a new Moses had been born. This was not a strong Moses; this was a weak Moses. However, as our Lord instructed Paul:
"…my strength is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9
In Exodus 3:11, Moses, no longer exercising faith in the flesh, said to the Lord: "…who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" God had a plan for Moses even from the foundation of the world, but before it could come to pass, the flesh had to be exposed and circumcised. It had to be cut away from the calling. And, once it was, from that point on, the emphasis was not on what Moses did, but on what God did through Moses.
Just one more quick note. In the desert years as a shepherd, Moses acquired a staff. God's first command at the burning bush in Exodus 4 was for Moses to take the staff he leaned upon and throw it down before the Lord. As you know, it turned into a snake. Then God commanded Moses to pick it up again, and it turned back into a staff. From that moment forward, the staff was no longer owned and controlled by Moses. It became the staff of God.
"…and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." Exodus 4:20
It was the rod of God that displayed the Lord's power through Moses before Pharaoh, and at the Red Sea, and to secure victory in battle. The old staff of the flesh had passed away, and the rod of God had taken its place. Now, do you see it? Do you see the foolishness of doing the work of God in the power of the flesh?
You see, a life dominated by the flesh is a hard life. It is filled with frustration, strife, and failure. The flesh can never produce lasting results for the Kingdom. Yet, it will constantly cry out to be in charge. Like a child, it will kick and scream if it does not get its way. It is our job to ignore its tantrums and mortify its power over the calling God has given us.