When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. Acts 7:30 (ESV)
Forty years had passed since Moses fled Egypt. During those forty years, Moses lived in Midian as a shepherd. He went from prince to pauper, from known to unknown. He left the comforts of Pharaoh’s palace to live in a forbidding and arid desert. The scholar (Acts 7:22) became a shepherd.
Forty years seems like an eternity, doesn’t it? Especially when the scenery remains the same, day after day. Where is God in the drudgery, the monotony, the daily grind? I’m sure Moses thought this would be his new normal for the rest of his days: lead the sheep, feed the sheep, guard the sheep. Where’s the glory in that?
Yet God had a plan and a purpose. He had led Moses to a place where he could work on taking Egypt out of Moses: his learning, his mindset, his ways. God was stripping him down to his primal identity. In the commonplace of his daily existence, in the ordinariness of life, in the silence of the desert, Moses shed his pride, his reactive anger, and his white-knight syndrome. He became the servant God needed to lead His people out of bondage.
Do you feel like you’re in a hard place right now? Have you lost your sense of meaning or purpose? Has the monotony of your daily existence led to discouragement? Don’t lose heart. God has brought you to this place for a purpose. Perhaps it’s to refine you and define your true identity. Or perhaps you’re not as ready for a particular ministry as you thought and God is transforming you, little by little, to become a vessel He can use.
Whatever the reason, don’t fight this season. God didn’t lead you to the desert just to forget you, He’s brought you to the desert to perfect you.
Thought: “What might happen if I release my expectations and re-orient my heart so that God’s glory becomes my end goal and destination, regardless of outcome?” Jill Weber, Even the Sparrow