When we last left Moses, he had fled the land of Egypt leaving behind all the wealth and privileges that he was raised with. Moses was a rising star, who had had the very best education, the sky was the limit. However, a knee jerk reaction has cost him everything. Now he finds himself in the middle of nowhere surveying a life that is now nothing more than a pile of rubble. Questions and regrets probably flooded his mind. What am I going to do now? God do you really have a plan for me? Can God still use me since I have really blown it? The truth is that God still did have a plan for Moses but Moses would have to learn to totally trust in Him rather than in his own self. Despite his great education Moses still needed more preparation. So God enrolls Moses in a 40 year long leadership training course that would take place in the middle of nowhere. This desert experience would give Moses the intangibles that could not be learned by reading books or attending seminars. When Moses finally graduates he will be a seasoned spiritual leader that was ready for any task the Lord chose to give him. As we examine how God prepared Moses, hopefully we will discover how God prepares us for the tasks that He has for each of us.
I. Everything in Moses’ life was changed.
A. Moses had to grow accustomed to new surroundings.
1. Modern scholars place Midian on the edge of the deserts bordering Gilead, Moab, Edom and south into eastern Sinai.
2. Midian was never really considered a nation. It was made up of scattered clans that were independently ruled.
a. The Bible makes reference in the book of Numbers to support this.
b. Numbers 31:8 refers to the five kings of Midian.
3. The people were mainly nomadic shepherds and traders that traveled in caravans.
4. Religiously Midian was very diverse. People worshiped Baal, Yahweh and everything in between.
5. For Moses life in Midian would be vastly different than the metropolitan life style of Egypt.
B. Moses had to grow accustomed to not having a privileged life style.
1. Moses was accustomed to having anything that he wanted at his finger tips.
2. Moses probably never had to get his hands dirty. Manual labor was probably a foreign concept to Him.
3. Moses would find out that his great education didn’t mean very much in Midian.
4. Gone were the days of enjoying great political influence and all the luxuries that life had to offer.
5. Moses’ survival was dependent upon the way he would choose to respond to the culture shock that he was experiencing.
C. Moses had to find a new career path.
1. Although Moses had a very impressive resume the economy did not support anything he was trained to do.
2. There were no white collar management jobs, if he was going to make a living he needed to roll up his sleeves and get dirty.
3. To support his family the only job Moses could find was that of a shepherd. Accepting this job had to be humbling since shepherds were despised by the Egyptians.
4. Moses was probably very discouraged as he resigned himself to the fact that this was what the rest of his was going to be like.
II. An overview of Moses’ course work.
A. Obscurity 101: Being bottom man on the totem pole.
1. Beginning with the killing of the Egyptian Moses’ life has taken a downward turn.
2. Moses’ leadership skills will not be put to use leading men; he would find himself living the life of a lowly shepherd.
3. How would this once proud leader handle being reduced to a nobody in people’s eyes?
4. Nothing teaches humility like obscurity. Later in Moses’ life he will be referred to as the most humble man on earth.
5. Humility would teach him to follow God’s leadership rather than his own initiatives.
B. Time Management 101: Learning to wait on the Lord.
1. Making a knee-jerk reaction and knocking down the door is what got Moses in trouble in the first place.
2. Moses needed to learn that God’s timing is more important than ours.
3. Moses’ actions made him a meddler in the eyes of the Hebrews and a murderer in the eyes of the Egyptians.
4. Moses would spend forty years learning the value of patience and waiting before God would call him to service again.
C. Solitude 101: Getting to know God.
1. Solitude is an essential discipline in helping one to grow in their relationship with God.
2. Solitude prompts self reflection and evaluation. However, more importantly solitude enables us to more readily listen to God.
3. During this time in the desert Moses would get to know himself better and develop a better understanding of God and His will.
4. Moses would emerge from this experience more spiritually prepared to lead God’s people.
D. Discomfort 101: Allowing the Lord to strengthen you.
1. Enduring the harsh climate of the desert for forty years will either kill you or toughen you up.
2. In Moses’ case the forty years spent in the Midian desert will toughen him up physically, mentally and spiritually.
3. Moses’ experience in the desert made it possible for him to lead the Hebrew people during their forty years in the wilderness.
4. God wastes no experience and uses each one to mold the character of His people.
III. Responding when God enrolls us in His University.
A. Curbing the temptation to respond out of fear or pride.
1. We often respond to God’s training courses with fear. “Lord, there is no way that I can make it through this.”
2. Other times we respond to God’s training courses with pride. “God I am doing my best, I don’t deserve this.”
3. Either response makes it impossible for us to learn the lessons that God is trying to teach us.
4. God uses these training courses to help us to learn about ourselves and more importantly learn about Him.
B. Overcoming the feelings of overload and anxiety.
1. Have you ever found yourself thinking that my plate is so full that I cannot handle one more thing?
2. Perhaps you have been one of the many who said, “I am tired of things always going wrong.”
3. These attitudes cause discouragement and self pity and they keep us from learning what God desires us to learn.
4. God wants these experiences to be journeys of discovery.
C. Learning to accept the training that God offers.
1. When we accept whatever we are experiencing we will find that we are very teachable and willing to learn what God wants to teach us.
2. When we find ourselves enrolled in one of God’s training courses there are three things not to do.
a. Don’t fight it.
b. Don’t try to run away from it.
c. Don’t take pity on yourself.
3. There are three things that we should do when we find ourselves enrolled in one of God’s training courses.
a. Turn your circumstances over to God.
b. Trust that God has everything under control.
c. Realize that God will use this experience for our benefit.
4. When we accept whatever comes our way we will discover that we will gain the perspective necessary to learn what God wants to teach us.
Closing:
If steel is to be used in a reliable manner, it must be tested and proven. So must the servant of Christ. Someone describes his visit to a steel mill as follows: "All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point, and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point and also marked. The supervisor of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under the strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in a ship, building, or bridge. He knew because the testing room revealed it." It is often so with us as God's children. God doesn't want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He doesn't want us to be hothouse plants, but storm beaten oaks; not sand dunes, driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us strong He must bring us into His testing room of suffering. Better the storm waters with Christ than the smooth waters without Him.
