“Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘“You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.’”

(Genesis 15:13, NLT)

 

Sometimes in life, it appears as if God has left the scene, especially when you need Him the most. But that’s never true, most often God is simply working His plan in our lives. He did the same with the nation of Israel, Abrahams descendants. In Genesis 15:13-14, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, but He also told him that his descendants would go into slavery for 400 years. Well, God knows everything, and they did. But He also promised they would eventually come out. And in steps Moses.

 

Now Moses had fled Egypt after he killed an Egyptian. He was in the wilderness for forty years before God spoke to him through a burning bush. Won’t God show up in the most peculiar ways? Never-the-less, God showed up and told Moses, to “Go and tell Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go!”’

 

I find that amazing that God would choose Moses, who had been in the desert for forty years. He knew the desert like the back of his hand. So, when the Jews were finally released from Egypt, guess who led them out into the desert? God and Moses—the One who promised deliverance and the man with desert experience. The Jews had never lived in the desert before, and God knew this when he sent Moses to navigate His people through a place they had never been before. 

 

The Jews might have given Moses a run for his money by refusing to trust him most of the time, but the desert Moses had mastery over. God knew who the most appropriate deliverer for His people would be, coupled with the perfect timing. He couldn’t answer before the 400 years were up. But when the appointed time of enslavement was over, freedom was granted by God’s grace and power.

 

I love seeing how God is always strategic and loving in everything He does. So, it makes me confident in knowing that God is doing the same thing in our lives. It’s just that we have to be patiently waiting and trusting God’s word. If He said it, He will do it! Our faith should rest in His word. It’s absolute! Because God spoke it, it shall come to pass. Jeremiah 1:12, (ESV) states, “Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

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Ephesians 5:17 (NLT), also reminds us, “Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” 

 

Another version says, "Know the will of God."

 

Prayer:

Father, thank You for knowing better than me. Thank You for Your perfect will, in Your perfect way, and in Your perfect timing. I realize that my desert experience is not out of Your control. In fact, it’s already been planned before the foundation of the world. May I glean from this experience all the wisdom, understanding and strength that I need for the next part of my journey in this life. If this is a pruning season, I welcome it with joy, to bear much more fruit. If this is a trial season, I embrace it with faith, knowing that the trying of my faith produces patience (endurance). To God be the glory, for You are perfect in every way! In the name of our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.