A Lesson From the Life of Moses
Consider the experience of Moses. The education he received in Egypt
as the king's grandson and the prospective heir to the throne was very
thorough. Nothing was neglected that was calculated to make him a wise
man, as the Egyptians understood wisdom. He received the highest civil
and military training. He felt that he was fully prepared for the work of
delivering Israel from bondage. But God judged otherwise. His providence
appointed Moses forty years of training in the wilderness as a keeper of
sheep.
The education that Moses had received in Egypt was a help to him in many
respects; but the most valuable preparation for his lifework was that which
he received while employed as a shepherd.
Moses was naturally of an impetuous spirit.
1. In Egypt a successful military leader and a favorite with the king and
the nation, he had been accustomed to receiving praise and flattery.
2. He had attracted the people to himself.
3. He hoped to accomplish by his own powers the work of delivering
Israel.
Far different were the lessons he had to learn as God's representative.
As he led his flocks through the wilds of the mountains and into the green
pastures of the valleys,
1. he learned faith and meekness, patience, humility, and self-
forgetfulness.
2. He learned to care for the weak, to nurse the sick, to seek after the
straying, to bear with the unruly, to tend the lambs, and to nurture the
old and the feeble.
In this work Moses was drawn nearer to the Chief Shepherd.
1. He became closely united to the Holy One of Israel.
2. No longer did he plan to do a great work.
3. He sought to do faithfully as unto God the work committed to his
charge.
4. He recognized the presence of God in his surroundings. All nature
spoke to him of the Unseen One.
5. He knew God as a personal God, and, in meditating upon His character
he grasped more and more fully the sense of His presence.
6. He found refuge in the everlasting arms.
After this experience, Moses heard the call from heaven to exchange his
shepherd's crook for the rod of authority; to leave his flock of sheep and
take the leadership of Israel. The divine command found him self-
distrustful, slow of speech, and timid. He was overwhelmed with a sense
of his incapacity to be a mouthpiece for God. But he accepted the work,
putting his whole trust in the Lord. The greatness of his mission called into
exercise the best powers of his mind. God blessed his ready obedience,
and he became eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, fitted for the greatest
work ever given to man. Of him it is written: “There hath not arisen a
prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face.”
Deuteronomy 34:10, A.R.V.
Let those who feel that their work is not appreciated, and who crave a
position of greater responsibility, consider that “promotion cometh neither
from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge:
He putteth down one, and setteth up another.” Psalm 75:6, 7. Every man
has his place in the eternal plan of heaven. Whether we fill that place
depends upon our own faithfulness in co-operating with God.
We need to beware of self-pity. Never indulge the feeling that you are not
esteemed as you should be, that your efforts are not appreciated, that
your work is too difficult. Let the memory of what Christ has endured for us
silence every murmuring thought. We are treated better than was our
Lord. “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” Jeremiah
45:5. The Lord has no place in His work for those who have a greater
desire to win the crown than to bear the cross. He wants men who are
more intent upon doing their duty than upon receiving their reward—men
who are more solicitous for principle than for promotion.
Those who are humble, and who do their work as unto God, may not
make so great a show as do those who are full of bustle and self-
importance; but their work counts for more. Often those who make a great
parade call attention to self, interposing between the people and God, and
their work proves a failure. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get
wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she
shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace
her.”Proverbs 4:7, 8.
Because they have not the determination to take themselves in hand and
to reform, many become stereotyped in a wrong course of action. But this
need not be. They may cultivate their powers to do the very best kind of
service, and then they will be always in demand. They will be valued for all
that they are worth.
If any are qualified for a higher position, the Lord will lay the burden, not
alone on them, but on those who have tested them, who know their worth,
and who can understandingly urge them forward. It is those who perform
faithfully their appointed work day by day, who in God's own time will hear
His call, “Come up higher.”
While the shepherds were watching their flocks on the hills of Bethlehem,
angels from heaven visited them. So today while the humble worker for
God is following his employment, angels of God stand by his side, listening
to his words, noting the manner in which his work is done, to see if larger
responsibilities may be entrusted to his hands.
