Moses Motivation

When you live in a small community, there are certain things that alert you that you are not in the "big" city anymore. One such thing is that as you sit in church, it is very likely that the priest may, from the altar, call on you to come to the front to read the assigned Scripture passage. Well, that happened to me this morning and being the dutiful person I sometimes am, I obliged.

I had no idea what the Scripture was until I opened the bulletin and started reading. Then, I realized it was a LONG passage. I recently read on a Facebook friend's page that a teacher must love the sound of his/her own voice. I guess I am truly a teacher at heart because realizing I had to read a long passage was kinda thrilling. J However, as I read I got a thrill from the passage that went beyond the sound of my sing song voice. Half way through the passage I started to smile and about two-thirds through, I wanted to jump and shout! Instead, I outwardly restrained myself and just did somersaults in my spirit.

 
The Scripture passage I read was Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Moses is the main character. We all know the story of Moses. He's the guy from the Bible, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt. But it wasn't that part of his life that inspired me this morning. This particular passage talks about the time during which Moses was born and his becoming a member of Pharaoh's family. The same Pharaoh who was scared because there were so many Israelites and he felt that the best way to limit their growth was to kill off all male babies.

[s/n: I think there is a similar spiritual attack on males today and that is why we are currently experiencing this 'shortage' of male leaders in every arena. But that is another post for another day]

Back to Moses...So, we know how Moses' story ends - he led the Israelites out of Egypt despite Pharaoh's resistance. But when we read the beginning of Exodus, we realize that at the beginning of Moses' story, there was a death sentence on his life. In fact, Moses' life was in jeopardy before he was conceived in his mother's womb. However, we also know through God's Word that the plans God has for us are also in place BEFORE we are formed in our mother's womb. What does that mean? BEFORE Pharaoh's death sentence, God had a plan to liberate His people and that plan involved Moses' parents conceiving a little boy who would not be killed, but would LIVE to carry out God's plans.

                                       

This was so exciting to me because it reminded me that all the seemingly random things that occur in my life have a purpose. I don't have the privilege of seeing my life from the end to the beginning, but God does. God has already established the plans for my life and even though I have many questions like "when" and "why" and "how" and "what the..." even now when I look back over my life, I already see purpose being fulfilled. I am sure Moses' mother had no idea what her little boy was to become when she decided that she must, at all cost, protect him from the men assigned to kill him. Likewise, Pharaoh's daughter had no clue that she was saving the future liberator of the Israelites. Moses did not even know that he was being groomed for this position. But God knew!
 
This passage has motivated and reminded me that as I go through this transition period and wrestle with my unanswered questions, it may seem like nothing is happening, but there is MUCH going on. Each day is a day of purpose. Every encounter with another human being, in person or via cyberspace, is an opportunity to give and receive knowledge, wisdom, inspiration, encouragement, or motivation. Life is not about the destination, but about making the most of every step of the journey.