Scripture:

“Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. ‘Why are you beating up your friend?’ Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

The man replied, ‘Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

 

 

Then Moses was afraid, thinking, ‘Everyone knows what I did.’ And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

 

 

When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks. But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped up and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.” Exodus 2:11-17 (NLT)

 

 

Perspective:

God had planted in Moses’ heart a desire to fight injustice. He had grown up separated from the plight of the Israelites in the palace. He would have been accustomed to the finer things of his day. Yet one decision to fix the injustice against his people on his own had him on the run. Moses went through the wilderness and found himself sitting by a well in a foreign land. The place that seemed to be the absolutely wrong place turned into a shielded place for Moses. God had some work to do in Moses’ life that probably couldn’t have been accomplished in a palace full of servants. He was going to teach Moses to shepherd so that he would be prepared to shepherd a million people. He was going to teach Moses about trusting God so that he would be prepared to trust God in the midst of opposition. What might have seemed as the greatest detour was actually going to lead him to the right destination. Moses didn’t know what God was going to do over the next forty years as he sat by the well in Midian. He didn’t know that those forty years would prepare him to lead his people through the wilderness for forty years. He didn’t know that growing up in the palace would help him when he had to persuade Pharaoh to let God’s people go. He didn’t know how his anger over injustice would be redeemed and used to deliver the people. He didn’t know how all the contradictory pieces would fit together. But God, the masterful orchestrator, was working to bring alignment to the story He was writing through Moses’ life. 

 

 

In our lives, we can experience a similar challenge as Moses, as the pieces of our story don’t always seem to fit together. We can think that our path is going to lead us where God wants us to go. Then, whether by our decisions or circumstances outside of our control, it can seem like we are further away from the mission God has placed in our hearts. While the shortest distance between two points is a line, sometimes God takes us on a journey that doesn’t seem linear at all. If it doesn’t line up, don’t think that God has gotten it wrong. It seemed that the perfect place to bring deliverance to the Israelites was from within the palace, not the wilderness. Yet, the walk through the wilderness enabled Moses to stand before one of the most powerful rulers of his day. In the hands of an almighty God, nothing is wasted. God is equipping you with experience even now to prepare you for your future. When we surrender our lives to God, we can trust that He will be faithful to continue the work He started. If you find yourself today sitting by a well in a foreign place, continue to follow God and watch how He miraculously fits all the pieces of your story together in an unmistakable way.

 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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About Hona Amer

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