By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s
edict. 24
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,25
choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26
He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
We read the account of Moses in the wilderness in about 2-3 minutes, but he was there as a shepherd, up early and to bed late, working alone for hours upon hours…having
to look for that one sheep that strayed and he did this day in and day out…for 40 years…at the end of which he is pushing 80 and yet still climbing around the mountains, in a job that seems to have no end.
What were YOU doing 40 years ago? I was 24. Do we think correctly about time? Moses is going to learn to wait, learning that our time is not God’s time, that our
impatience is just that, sinful impatience. Moses would learn to be still in the face of circumstances that were not favorable or even that seemed to be meaningless and without purpose from his vantage point.
Brothers and sisters, you may not see all you want to see, or see it when you WANT to see it…but the Lord would say to you, Be still and know that I am God. He is
preparing you…He is teaching you the mystery of contentment and what it really means to trust in Him.
Second, Moses would learn the life of a pilgrim, a stranger which is part of the context of Hebrews 11. He would learn that his home is not here. That Moses did learn
this is evident even in the naming of his second son, Gershom, which means, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
I have a little book written by John Calvin called, “Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Advice”, it is just a collection of letters that Calvin wrote to folks in his church to
help them in life. Listen to this one:
“You must apply to yourself the teaching that the sons of God must wander as strangers in the world…for our sympathy for your unhappiness does not allow us to free
you from your responsibility. To do so would be nothing but to deceive you with empty flatteries and would not be useful to you. You know that God condemns us all the more when we are eager to be acquitted by men…”
Calvin hits the nail on the head. This is so often what we want! We want the fact that we are not happy, that circumstances are hard, to somehow free us from our responsibility
to preserve and to live by faith. But the bible never, not one time tells us that because life is hard, because we are in deep difficulty and even sorrow, that we are therefore free to sin…never is it even hinted at that because it is hard, therefore it is
ok for us to shirk our responsibility to trust the Lord.
Calvin was saying that your brothers and sisters who make up your Christian family aren’t worth a flip if they allow you to think that your happiness is the most important
thing in your life. That would be to fail you.
What is important is that you stay faithful as you make your journey from this world to the next and that is done by faith and by trusting the Lord… It is done by
a constant remembering that our home is not in this world as it is now constituted, but in a new heavens and a new earth with Jesus.
Here is the answer to most problems and people will say that it is a pat-answer, a bandaid, they will say, and I have heard it countless times that their situation
is far more complicated than this, but typically it is not, they just don’t understand the simplicity of God’s answer. The answer to all of life’s dilemmas, is that we must LEARN to really trust the Lord and walk with Him. We must learn to trust His word,
His promises, over everything we see and feel.
Third, and more implied than anything else but bluntly stated elsewhere is that although the Lord will break us, teaching us to depend on Him, humble us, he at one
and the same time, will increase our blessings and give us good and gracious gifts.
This is the amazing nature of God’s grace, namely that through it all, the Lord blesses us, the Lord makes us taste the sweetness of who He is and so much so that
we find ourselves rejoicing in this pilgrimage regardless of the circumstances.
Moses in his banishment, while in God’s school of crushing the ones He intends to use, nonetheless finds good at the Lord’s hand. Moses obtains a wife, one who is
wonderful and who will save Moses’ skin even from God’s anger for not circumcising Gershom. Moses is blessed with the joy of a family of children. He is given respect among men.
You might ask, “Well then, is God going to crush me and teach me what it means to die daily OR is he going to pour out blessings and enjoyments upon me because I am
His child? And the answer is yes. He will teach you the life of the cross, for that is what it means to be a follower of the Lamb…he will teach you to die that you might live…He will teach you that you will not find life by clinging to your supposed rights,
but in laying everything down at the cross…surely that is what you want! And at the same time, through all of that, you will be blessed, the Lord will give you good things and you will have a joy that you never thought imaginable.
You might think, how, how does THAT work? How does God do both of those things at the same time? Honestly, I don’t know…but it is what our God says, it is what faith
knows to be true.
This is what Moses learned, and all of it in the face of adversity and soon before the face of Pharaoh. In all of this we are told that Moses saw the Promise, and
lived to it, and for it. This is the same life that we are called to live. We too are in God’s school where we learn the life of being set apart for Him.
We too will face adversity and will see the evil one, and the sin of this world, seeking to steal our joy, to rob us of our hope, peace and contentment…even to hurt
us to steal our children to the world…to make the Promise…to make Jesus, seem far away and unconcerned.
What will your response be? What has your response been this week as you look back?
There is a great line in CS Lewis’ Narnia tales that we read over and over again, and every time I read it, I am struck: Something will happen in Narnia and the need
is great and someone will say, “Aslan is on the move…”
Our God, Our Savior, Our Hero, He is on the move.
Prayer: Father, how easily I forget. I forget your love. I forget your promises. I forget that you have made me a promise to never leave me nor forsake me. How
easily I believe my own fears and the voices surround me in a cacophony of fear and anxiety. Deliver me Father, from all voices but Your own, and allow me to walk in the peace of your presence, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Song: Peace, Perfect Peace
