Moses – The Reluctant Leader
So after the excitement of Genesis, we move on to Exodus – don’t worry I’m not planning on writing about every book of the Bible this week! It’s just that so much incredible stuff happens and the story of Moses is yet another one that shows how God takes the most unlikely of people and transforms them into the most amazing of people!
Moses, as many of you probably know, starts life by being placed in a basket, floating off down the river only to be rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter and subsequently spends his childhood and early adulthood living in the lap of luxury!
However Moses never forgot who he truly was and in a fit of anger he murdered an Egyptian who had beaten us a Hebrew slave. This is a tricky situation – on the one hand it is understandable Moses was so outraged at the appalling treatment of one of his own people but on the other murder is never the answer!
So off Moses went to live in Midian where he settled, married and started a family. From the riches of Pharaoh’s palace to the itinerant life of a shepherd, yet again Moses life underwent a transformation. I reckon Moses must have been quite content – lovely wife, new baby son, a hard life maybe but a simple and peaceful one.
But of course God had other plans for Moses! In that famous scene God appears to him in the burning bush and commissions him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
Now Moses may have been a bit hot headed but he was also very aware of his shortcomings and in no way did he feel equipped to do as God had commanded. “O Lord, please send someone else to do it” Moses pleads. But the thing about God is He won’t take no for an answer! Moses could make all the excuses under the sun about why he couldn’t do what God required of him but God was having none of it! For every problem Moses came up with, God had a solution!
And so began one of the most important and indeed most difficult phases in the history of God’s people as Moses eventually led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Moses had a hard time of it. On countless occasions the people turned against him but God was always there, giving him the strength and resilience to continue to lead.
I always feel a bit sad that given all that he had gone through Moses never got to set foot in the Promised Land himself. Just before he died, Moses was led by God to a place where he could see the land of milk and honey spread out before him and there he died.
Moses fulfilled God’s call on his life, not willingly initially and indeed he continued to meet constant challenges. God transformed Moses from a hot headed if well meaning outcast into a wise and compassionate leader. It wasn’t easy for Moses but he realised that wherever he ran to escape God would pursue him.
And that is true for all of us. God may not be calling us to undertake such monumental tasks as He did Moses, but He is certainly calling us into a ministry of some sort, be it praying , performing practical tasks to help others, offering a listening ear to someone in need, stretching out the hand of friendship to someone who feels abandoned….God has a plan for us all, no matter how reluctant we may be to do his bidding. Moses felt unworthy as we all do but God gave him the strength to meet the challenges of serving Him. No matter how broken and useless we may believe ourselves to be God knows otherwise so have faith in Him as He undoubtedly has for each of us.