Have you ever looked around at your circumstances and wondered how you are ever going to recover from what has happened in your life? As you try to pull yourself up from the grief and sadness, its hard to see anything good, much less goodness in the big picture. Sometimes, when we are going through a tragedy, God is opening up ways bring amazing things into your life. In Egypt, parents were asked to throw out their own newborn babies to die. Can you imagine the heart break and loss of throwing out your child? Even the thought seems like too much to handle. Even though I do not understand it, God’s glory shone through. The one baby to survive was Moses. The Pharaoh who ordered this treacherous decree allowed Moses to be raised by his daughter in his home. That is miraculous. God can take a murderous heart and use it for his good works. The Pharaoh was trying to stop a prophet from saving the Israelites, yet he raised and trained the prophet in his culture and education. We may not always understand when we experience pain and sorrow in our lives, but we can pray that God’s glory will shine through.
“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ’He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
–Acts 7:17-22 (NIV)
When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his people, the Israelites. When he went there, he saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. Moses killed the Egyptian for treating an Israelite badly. Moses thought everyone would realize that he was there to rescue them. That didn’t happen. Moses was pushed aside and asked if was going to kill an Israelite too. Moses fled. He settled down in a another place and had two sons. I guess it was just not the the time for Moses to rescue his people yet. He tried. It didn’t work, so he left and went on with his life.
“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? ’When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
–Acts 7:23-29 (NIV)
Another 40 years passed, so Moses would have been 80 years old. An angel appeared to him in a burning bush. Moses was so amazed at the sight. The Lord spoke to him. Moses had the respect and fear to not dare look at the Lord. It took God eighty years to use Moses. Before that, God was training him. When I picture 80 years old, I think of retirement and relaxing. I don’t picture fulfilling my life’s purpose and watching God work miracles in my life and saving a group of people. I can’t think like God. I can only think like a person, so I can never understand God’s ways and plans. All I know, is that it is all for God’s glory.
“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
–Acts 7:30-34 (NIV)
Moses must have been a humble person. The people that mocked him, were the very ones that he saved. Its not about him, its about God’s glory shining through him. Moses “led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.” Moses tells them that God will give them a prophet “from your own people”.
“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
“This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’
–Acts 7:35-37 (NIV)
Easter in in a few days. Its time to prepare our hearts and minds to receive the Lord. The bible verses that stand out the most lately are that God fulfills his promises. God can see the past, present and future. Throughout the bible, there are mentions of a savior. After Jesus died on the cross and rose again, he appeared to the disciples. Before they were allowed to recognize them, he told them about the scriptures that predicted Jesus coming, dying and receiving eternal life. God fulfills his promises to us. God’s a promise keeper.
Embrace This Beautiful Life 