We ended off last time where Moses
was down and out. I think that must have been the lowest point in
his life. He left his comfort zone in the wilderness in order to
follow the ways of the Lord. But since accepting and acting on the
call on his life, he has been ridiculed and scorned by Pharaoh, he
has caused his own people to be worse off than before, which in
turn caused them to not even listen to him. In fact they didn't
want anything to do with him anymore. The only companion he had was
his brother. He must have felt like an absolute failure. Two thirds
of his life was over and he was still a nobody. He was probably
experiencing the worst mid life crisis imaginable.
But you all know the story. Even
though Moses complained, even though Moses felt down, even though
Moses was basically alone, he continued with what the Lord said. He
complained and he moaned, but every time the Lord sent him back to
Pharaoh, he went.
The first time he went, he was
discouraged because Pharaoh treated him very badly. The second time
he went, the magicians of Pharaoh could also do the miracle he was
doing. They also turned their staffs into snakes. The third time,
the magicians could also turn water into blood. The fourth time
they could also let frogs appear, it was only the fifth
time that Moses went to Pharaoh, that they couldn't imitate the
miracles he performed on behalf of the Lord.
Now again, that must have been a
bit discouraging. Here the evil magicians of Pharaoh could also do
what he was doing. He must have felt good that the Lord was using
him in this mighty way, but it must have been a bit disheartening
to see others doing exactly the same thing. Now it might be the
same for you as well once you start with your task. You might look
around you and see a lot of people doing exactly the same thing
that you are doing. In this case it was ungodly magicians, but in
your case it might be godly people. For instance, let's say that
you want to serve the Lord by writing a Christian book. Now you
look around you and see hundreds, no I lie thousands if not
millions of other writers doing the same thing. Or you might feel
the Lord leads you to start a charity organization and then you
look around you and see numerous others doing exactly the same
thing. Or you might have the calling to be at home with your
children and you immediately feel inferior to the other mothers
doing the job so much better than you. You might even feel that you
are not good enough and that it might be better that the kinder
garden teacher rather raise your children as she might do it so
much better than you. Or you might feel the Lord leads you to use
your singing talent for example and you instantly look around you
and see all the wonderful, great singers the Lord are using
already. And we can start to feel discouraged and feel that we are
not special in what we are planning to do and give up even before
starting.
I feel like that as well. I write
Christian books and want to do Christian motivational speaking. But
everywhere I look, I simply see successful people doing exactly
that. They all look to me much better than I can ever dream to be,
they look so blessed and their ministries are all growing at a
rapid speed. I even wonder if there would be anyone left to buy my
books and come and listen to me! And do you know what verse the
Lord pressed on my heart?
Matthew 9:37 'Jesus said to His
disciples: "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so
few."
And I knew, if the Lord gives you
something to do, do it, even if a million others are doing the
exact same thing. He has called you to do it and if He calls you
and you obey, there is a place for you, even if you think there is
enough 'workers' already. A whole harvest is waiting for you!
Simply do what Moses did. Just keep
on doing what the Lord asks of you. Moses went back and back and
back to Pharaoh. He didn't know when it would end and when (if
ever) Pharaoh would finally relent and let them go, but he kept on
doing what was required of him. And by the ninth plague he was
considered a very great man and respected by Pharaoh's officials
and Egyptians. What an amazing turn of events, he went from an
insignificant despised shepherd to probably the most respected man
in Egypt in a very short time, simply because he listened and moved
at the mighty voice of the Lord. Are you ready to move?
Lord, help us not to look at what
You are doing with other people, but rather to focus on what You
want us to do with our lives. Help us to continue in Your Wisdom
and with Your plan for our lives. Amen