Today I read Exodus chapter 2. This is the story of Moses life before God meets with him at the burning bush in Chapter 3.
In Exodus 2, we read about Moses being born. He is hidden for 3 months by his mother. She then puts him in the Nile River and he is found by the Pharaoh's daughter. Moses is then nursed by his mother for a season and then given back to Pharaoh's Daughter and raised in the Egyptian Palace.
Years later (we are still in Chapter 2), Moses is as an adult and he kills an Egyptian. Moses, then flees into to the dessert of Median to live. He gets married and lives in Median as a shepherd. At the end of chapter 2, God hears the cry of his people and begins to set plan in place to free them.
In reading this chapter the thing that jumps off the page at me, is that God works methodically, God works intentionally, but God does not always work quickly.
In this story alone we see
- 9 months for Moses to be born
- 3 months for Moses to be hidden
- Moses is found and lives in Pharoughs court for 40 years
- Moses flees to Median and lives there for 40 years
- Then God moves to free his people
Acts Chapter 2 spans a minimum of 80 years.
The oppression of slavery lasted over 400 years.
God works methodically, God works intentionally, but God does not always work quickly.
Sometimes we can get so frustrated that thing we know are good and even Godly have not happened yet in our life or ministry. However, when I look at my life through the lens of Exodus 2, I realize that I am only 47 years old. At this point in Moses life he had another 33 years of living in the dessert of Median. He had to wait 33 more years before Exodus chapter 3 begins and he receives his life mission of setting the Jewish people free, who had been slaved for 400 years.
God works methodically, God works intentionally, but God does not always work quickly.
In looking at Exodus Chapter 2 I see that we work on the "what" ... and God takes care of the "when".