There is a story in the Bible that caught my attention recently, it’s the story of Moses. It intrigues me because there are times in our lives when we just don’t seem to know which way to go. But God always knows the way. I can appreciate this, because there are times when I just don’t know which way to go.

I had read that story countless times, but never really understood the message that was given to me, by God. Moses was born Hebrew but was raised in Pharaoh’s house as a child rescued from death. He grew as a Prince of Egypt and was banished after he slew a man for abusing a Hebrew slave.

The part that stands out for me is how God called Moses to be a deliverer for His people the Israelites. It wasn’t Moses encounter with the burning bush that fascinated me the most. What I saw was the preparation God had made before He spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

The scripture explains what happened after Moses met his future wife and family in the wilderness. He became a deliverer first for some shepherd girls attending their father’s flock in the wilderness. Exodus 2:19-23 states, “They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

“And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land. During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

Exodus 3:1-10 picks up the story of how meticulous God’s plan of rescue was, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Wow! God had already planned to deliver His people long before Moses was born and entered the desert. The fact that Moses was born a slave, raised a prince, banished a murderer, and called by God to be a deliverer is amazing! What really excites me is that Moses was no ordinary deliverer. He had skills that a lesser man might not have had. He had inside understanding of Pharaoh’s house, military skills, and wilderness training.

When God chose Moses, He knew that his people would need someone who could approach Pharaoh, lead them in the wilderness (the desert), and prepare them for battle (to take possession of the promised land). When God led the Israelites into the wilderness (the desert), He didn’t send them in unprepared. He gave them a man with desert experience. He knew how to navigate the desert terrain, so he was able to successfully lead them through the desert, for forty years.

This story has a whole new meaning for me, because it tells me that God will send us good leaders, we just need to be able to recognize them and appreciate them. The Israelites murmured and complained about Moses leadership decisions, but they themselves had never lived in the desert, and didn’t understand the true danger they were in. Had God not sent them a man who had desert experience, the Israelites would have perished after a week. But because God hand chose their deliverer, they lasted forty years in the wilderness. God watched over His people personally as a cloud by day, and fire by night, but He called Moses to lead them.

Let’s appreciate our God given leaders and pray for them, because we need them to assist us into God’s will and purpose for our lives. We are the sheep and God has chosen His leaders to shepherd us.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for Your amazing grace. Thank You for Your amazing love and thank You for Your amazing wisdom in choosing for us men and women that lead us in righteousness and holiness. They never complain to us but give themselves so freely to serving us. Help us to appreciate their sacrifices and diligent work in building up the Body of Christ. Please bless them with Your strength, Your power, and the respect they deserve. Help us to honor them as unto You. In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.