Sometimes God uses the pause button.
Acts 7:20 "At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.23 "One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man's defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't.
26 "The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. 'Men,' he said, 'you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?'
27 "But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?' he asked. 28 'Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30 "Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him, 32 'I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33 "Then the LORD said to him, 'Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.'
35 "So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?' Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.
Looking back at Moses life we can see that God was preparing him to be a leader to rescue his people, but I wonder if Moses had any idea that God was going to use him to help his people, do you think that Moses was sitting in his bedroom in the royal palace and dreaming of what it would be like if he could use his power and authority to help the Israelites.
The scriptures tell us that "Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action" that sounds like pretty good credentials to require a leader to have, maybe Moses thought that he could help his people. Moses had a great resume and should have been the leader of something but instead when he was forty years old he made a big mistake.
After Moses killed the Egyptian and fled to Midian to get away from Pharaoh, I bet that if he dreamed of leading the Israelites then that dream had disappeared by now, did he feel like he blew it and that he would never get another chance? Moses must have been broken hearted and felt like a failure. Do you think that in those forty years in the desert that Moses ever thought that he would be useful in helping the Israelites?
Exodus 3:7 Then the LORD told him, "I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians
Notice who God said was going to rescue the Israelites, God told Moses that God was going to rescue his people and that Moses was going to be God's instrument to make it happen.
Also notice that after all the forty years of training and qualifications that Moses had, God used the broken man that had spent another forty years in the desert, time and again we see in the Bible that God uses the broken and weak to lead the strong.
Looking back at this story the timing seemed so right for Moses to lead his people when he was the strong and powerful man but God took him out of his position of authority and in his own timing he used the broken man that had no strength of his own to rely on.
Becoming the type of leader God desires you to be requires viewing your preparation from God's perspective. God's timing and preparation and his use of our failures can turn us into a leader that he can use.
Thank you Lord for using me beyond my perceived weaknesses. Thank you for looking past our mistakes and still finding us useful for your work.
