DEVOTIONAL - WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

DEVOTION – WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

“A study in separation”

BY

PASTOR BOB COY

Moses, part 3

When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian…. Exodus 2:15 (NKJV)

Things had taken a radical turn in Moses’ life. With his murder of an Egyptian out in the open, and with Pharaoh in hot pursuit, he left everything he had come to know over the past forty years. His prestige, his power, his possessions…he left it all behind and fled to Midian.

It’s here, away from the epicenter of activity in Egypt and within the Midian wilderness, that Moses enters into a place of prolonged separation. He marries a woman named Zipporah, and they begin a family together. But as you read the scriptures, you can’t help but sense that Moses is now a man who is defined by that which is missing.

He becomes a herder of his father-in-law’s flocks, which means most of his time was spent apart from any human interaction. In Stephen’s sermon we find out that Moses toils away at this task for forty years! That’s a long time of being alone in the wilderness with one’s flocks...and thoughts.

We can’t help but wonder what went through Moses’ mind during that season of separation: “How did I get here of all places? I used to be a real somebody. I once thought that God was going to use my life for something important. Why did I throw everything away like that? What a wasted existence!”

But there was nothing wasteful about this time in his life. Although it appeared that he had come to the end of the line and his best years were behind him, a refining process was taking place underneath his once-proud exterior.

Separation has a way of humbling us, and humility was being actively formed in Moses…humility that would ultimately make him much more useful in the Lord’s hands. Away from Egypt, in the solitude of Midian, Moses was becoming someone God could really use.

Think About It…
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?