Qualifying the Called: Moses at the Burning Bush, Part 1

Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes? Perhaps you feel like you don’t measure up. Maybe you wonder if you can have a calling after all you have done or been through. Maybe you have physical limitation. Maybe you’re just scared. Maybe you just plain think, “Who am I to think God might be able to use me?” If any of these describe your condition, I’d like to introduce you to my “friend” Moses. 

Humble Beginnings

A lot of us let our humble beginnings set the limits for our lives. The late, great Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love fame, referred to this as an upper limit challenge. Somewhere, maybe deep in your subconscious mind, you have an idea that there is a limit to the level to which you can, or should aspire. So let’s start off with a question. Is there anything more humble than being born a slave? That was Moses lot in life, but it gets better, Moses was part of an entire nation of slaves. Even worse, the paranoid, homicidal king of his land, Pharaoh, feared that the nation of people he enslaved, would turn on him, so he made a plan. Kill all the baby boys born to these people. Not only was Moses a slave, but he was born with a price on his head. 

Transition to Privilege

Moses’ mother refused to allow her child to be murdered, so she hid him, and when she could hide him no longer, she placed him in a basket, sealed and waterproof and hid him in the river. There he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, and rescued. Ultimately she adopted him, and raised him in the lap of luxury. The little slave boy soon became a prince of Egypt, with all the right and privileges associated with the position. 

Torn

Despite the fact that that Moses was a prince, he knew who he was. He still identified with his people. When he saw another Hebrew being beaten by a task master, Moses killed the abuser. It seems Moses was already feeling his destiny to lead his people, but he got way out in front of it and made a real mess. Moses thought he hid what he did, but the next day, when he stepped into a fight between two of his fellow Hebrews, this happened. “…he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:13-14 ESV) What Moses had done was not hidden. People knew and it wouldn’t be long before Pharaoh knew, so Moses fled. 

Reversal of Fortunes

Moses fled to Midian. There once again Moses came to the rescue. When he saw some shepherdesses being driven from the watering hole by their fellow shepherds, Moses sprang into action, fought off the shepherds and watered the women’s flock. They took him home to their father, Jethro, the priest of Midian for a meal, and he stayed 40 years. 

Moses ended up as a shepherd. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a shepherd, but think of Moses. He was raised in the palace of Pharaoh from the time he was a toddler. He was raised to be a prince in Egypt. If you think back to Genesis, you’ll remember Joseph telling his brothers how to present themselves to Pharaoh on coming to Egypt. “you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34)

Why Do I Share This?

You might be familiar with this story and wonder what it has to do with my topic. There are a few lessons be learned. First you can’t help where you begin, but it’s no indication of where you can end up. Secondly, don’t get ahead of God. Moses did have a call to rescue his people, but when he took matters into his own hands, it created a disaster. God’s will never involves sin. Moses committed murder. Now you could make the case that he did the wrong thing for the right reason, but it still had consequences. This brings about another point. We know, because we know the whole story, that God still used Moses mightily. Past sin does not necessarily disqualify you from doing great things for God, though unrepentant sin does.

More Lessons

Moses still had lessons to learn. We too have things in life that can prepare us for our calling and those things are not always pleasant. Moses fled Egypt at 40 and for the next 40 years, half his life to that point, he did something that would have been despised in his former life. He was a shepherd. Did you ever notice that many of the people God used mightily, started off as shepherds. Abraham did. So did Isaac and Jacob. We see it here with Moses, and later with David, and while He was a carpenter by trade, Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. It would lead one to wonder, what is the magic of shepherding?

Shepherd Lessons

I would argue, there are a lot of connections between shepherding sheep and leading people, and most of life involves leading people. You may not see yourself as a leader but almost everyone ends up leading someone. Sheep don’t think before they act. Neither do many people. Sheep don’t always want to be led and yet they often need to be led. So do people. Shepherding requires sacrificial leadership. A good shepherd must make sacrifices for his flock and does this willingly because he cares for his sheep. Good leaders do the same. 

Is It Preparation?

Moses’ adopted people may have looked down on shepherds, but shepherding was vital to the training of a man who would end up leading a nation of slaves, who never had to think for themselves, always being ordered what to do at the tip of a whip, to freedom. That after all was Moses’ call. He was being prepared to lead God’s people to freedom. What is your calling? Here’s the thing. You may think you are a thousand miles off course, and have a hard time seeing how where you are gets you to where you want to be. Rather than assuming you are off track, or that God has given up on you, might I suggest you look at the story of Moses and ask yourself some questions, “Is this preparation? How can God use this to take me where He wants me to be?”  

Moses may have thought he was off course, but then one day while he was out tending the sheep, he saw a curious sight. A bush on fire that wasn’t burning up. (to be continued…)