Our skills and talents won't help us do God's will before God is ready.
During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews.
12 After looking in all directions
to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body
in the sand.
The comfortable life that God's children had when they first arrived in Egypt is just a distant
memory at this point. God preserved their lives during the famine by sending them to Egypt but he also allowed them to be persecuted for hundreds of years before they were released. Being in the center of God's will does not guarantee that you will live on easy street.
God sent a rescuer in the form of a defenseless baby that would have to be protected from the evil dictator that
wanted him dead, instead of killing Moses, God would see to it that Moses
would grow up in Pharaoh's own family. Moses would get the best education and
military training that the government could provide. But as much like an
Egyptian as they tried to make him Moses still knew that he wasn't one of
them.
Moses could have stayed in his comfortable life but the day came when he
couldn't stand the unjust treatment of his people any longer. Seeing the
oppression and injustice day after day finally pushed him over the edge but the problem was that he
hadn't talked to God about his decision.
Moses Thinks He Is Ready, God Knows Better
Moses thinks that he is ready to make a difference in the life of his people
but he doesn't realize that he doesn't have God's blessing yet. Moses proves
by his actions that he has a heart for his people, and that he has leadership
skills but he was wrong to assume that it was time for him to take
action.
Seeing a need that your training and skills can handle and having the courage
to solve a problem doesn't mean it is time to get to work. Sometimes God isn't
ready for you even if you think you are ready to serve him. It is easy to take
action in the areas that God has gifted us before God is ready for us to use
those gifts.
| How God Uses Failure |
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1. God uses imperfect instruments who fail in their attempts to
serve Him. 2. God shapes and prepares imperfect instruments before He uses them. 3. God’s gracious covenant faithfulness prepares His servants for His people and His people for His servants. Learn more> |
It seems like God's people would be anxious for a deliverer but the
response to Moses after he killed the Egyptian made it clear that they
were not ready yet. We will see later that their opposition to Moses
leadership will never go away completely, they will stand up against him
over and over again and they will even beg to return to these miserable
conditions.
The future leader of God's people had to be prepared for God's work by
stepping into the classroom that God uses quite often. Many times the
wilderness is the place that God takes his people so that they can spend
time alone with him free of distractions.
Back in the book of Genesis we saw that Jacob ran to the wilderness to get away from his brother and he ran into God. The wilderness is the place where God shaped Jacob's
character and brought him into a closer relationship with him. (Genesis
28:12-13, 32:22-32)
Now it is Moses turn in the wilderness classroom, as soon as he gets to the wilderness we can see his desire for justice in his successful rescue of some shepherd girls,
consequently Moses gets married to one of these ladies. Moses has
gone from riches and luxury to one of God's preferred occupations
as a poor shepherd with a family to feed. (Exodus 2:15-22)
At the beginning of Exodus chapter two, Moses was know as a Hebrew by
Pharaoh's daughter and now at the end of the chapter he is known as an
Egyptian by the daughters of Reuel, that's how quickly Moses became alienated from both
worlds. (compare
Exodus 2:6,19)
Moses spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his second forty years learning he was a nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.-D. L. Moody
Imagine having a God given desire to rescue people but God doesn't allow
you to use your gifts and training to help. Moses will be 80 years old
before God lets him begin his ministry of leading his people back to their
promised land.
Moses must have spent a lot of time alone with the sheep thinking that he
had ruined his life with that one impulsive decision but God will show up
in a big way that should have given him a lot of courage.
God Is Ready, Moses Thinks He Knows Better
Exodus 3:1-3 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush.Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
When God is ready he comes in a big way to make it clear, but the
burning bush that wasn't being burned up and the voice of God wasn't
enough to convince Moses that God had the right man. Moses should have already realized that his own wisdom failed him when
he killed the Egyptian but here he is standing on holy ground before
God using his own wisdom again. This time he is making excuses about why God's wisdom is wrong.
Man's wisdom says that Moses has missed the opportunity to use his talents and influence forty years ago before he ran to the desert but God's wisdom says that this is exactly when he is ready to use us. Moses doesn't realize that the only strength that be
needs is strong faith that the same powerful God of his ancestors was on his side.
Sometimes the most difficult times in ministry is in the waiting, we may feel like God is wrong for not using our ability and passion to serve. Most of the time we can't understand why he gives us a passion to serve and the ability but he doesn't give us the opportunity.
When Moses was perfect for the job by the world's standards, God wasn't ready to use him, sometimes God's delay is being used to help us realize that we need to rely on him for his strength and his timing.
Thank you Lord for giving me a passion to serve you. Help me to wait for your blessing and your timing so that I will be in your will.
