Moses fled Egypt and went to live
in Midian. The Lord looked after him and introduced him to the
family of Jethro, the priest of Midian. Jethro was a good man and
he and Moses got along very well. Moses later married his daughter,
Zipporah and they had two sons. He named his second son Eliezer,
which means 'The God of my fathers was my helper; He delivered me
from the sword of Pharaoh'. This indicates that Moses was still a
believer in God and thankful that he was saved out of Egypt. Now
Moses worked for his father-in-law and tended to his sheep. Not for
one year or two years, but for 40 years. A lifetime in our eyes!
But God was not finished with Moses, He was simply training him for
the momentous task He had for him.
Now to an Egyptian being a shepherd
was the lowest of the lowest of occupations. And this was what
Moses was now, a shepherd. It must have been a very humbling
experience to Moses. I mean he was a famous prince in Egypt, whose
every whim was catered for and now he had to do everything himself,
doing something he was taught to despise. He must have been at the
lowest point in his life.
For us knowing the whole story, it
makes sense that God trained him here in the wilderness. He taught
him everything about the wilderness where he would spend the next
40 years with the Israelites. God used the perfect training ground.
And I personally think that God also tested Moses to see if he
could be trusted with the small things, before God entrusted him
with bigger things.
Of course Moses didn't know what
lay ahead, he only knew what he could see. He was in the wilderness
as a shepherd and that was the way his life will be until he died.
There is no proof that he had any other revelation than that, in
fact when God finally called him he made a lot of excuses trying to
get out of it. But despite not knowing that his life was intended
for greatness, he was faithful in what he did, we can know that he
was, because God was pleased with him.
There are a number of other
examples of great men in the Bible who God first humbled, before He
exalted them to high positions of authority. For example God
allowed Joseph to be thrown into jail for a couple of years before
he was exalted to be second in charge in Egypt, God allowed David
to be hunted down by King Saul and allowed him to hide away in a
cave for a number of years before exalting him to the position of
King of Israel, God sent Paul into Arabia for 3 years alone and
then for several years to his hometown Tarsus before God exalted
him as one of the greatest apostles that ever lived. There are many
examples. The point is God sometimes allows a 'wilderness' period
in our lives before He exalts us. It is a period where He prepares
us for our task ahead and a period where He tests us to see if we
will be faithful in the small things too.
Maybe you are frustrated that you
are not receiving the promotion at work, while you know that God
wants you at that firm. Maybe you are tired of being looked down
upon whilst you feel God has called you to be a fulltime mother.
Maybe you are being ridiculed by others because you stand firm in
the promises God made to you. Maybe you want to give up on your
studies because it is too hard, but you actually know that God
wants you to study that. Maybe the business God told you to start
is not kicking off as you would have hoped. Whatever the case may
be, if you feel you are in a wilderness period, just hang on and be
faithful to God. The time will come when God will exalt you into
the position He dreamed for you since you were created. Just
continue to trust and believe. Better days are in store, you just
need to hang on. God is faithful and true, if He promised
something/placed a dream in your heart, you can be sure that it
will come to pass.
Lord, please help us through these
wilderness periods in our lives. Our flesh are weak and want to
give up, but thank you that we know our spirits are strong, because
Your Holy Spirit is inside of us giving us the strength to move on.
We love You and praise You. Amen