Moses stands guard over his sheep in the desert.
This post discusses our identity in Christ, leadership, and Moses. Images created using Night Cafe Studio and Canva Pro. Scripture passages from Berean Standard Bible.
A.W. Tozer on Leadership
“A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of the external situation.
Such were Moses and David and the Old Testament prophets. I think there was hardly a great leader from Paul to the present day but that was drafted by the Holy Spirit for the task, and commissioned by the Lord of the Church to fill a position he had little heart for.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=tozer+moses&commit=Search accessed 3/3/24
God’s best: waiting
The path to happiness, to the joy and hope-filled well-being of a Christian’s soul, leads both through some level of affliction, weariness, and angst, sometimes to nearly unbearable levels, and to the awareness of a deep thirst that will be fully satisfied only in the next life, a thirst that stirs joyful, persevering hope.
Larry Crabb, Freedom from the Incurable Addiction to Self: Waiting for Heaven. Chapter Five: Moses Waited pg 39
God shapes Moses during a 40 year period in the desert tending sheep. This article explains Moses’ background, call, and God’s work.
In this post, I explain what Moses turns toward and why including quotes from Larry Crabb’s: Freedom from the Incurable Addiction to Self: Waiting for Heaven.
God’s Call: Need for Patience
God begins working in the life of Moses when Pharaoh’s daughter pulls him out of the water. God provides an education and period of life for Moses in Pharaoh’s court. God later sends Moses into the desert. After Moses kills and then hides an Egyptian, he flees to Midian. https://biblehub.com/bsb/exodus/2.htm
Moses spends forty years shepherding, then God calls.
God’s Call
1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. 3So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
4When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
God calls Moses at the right time! Moses is curious and God speaks when Moses comes to see the burning bush. Moses isn’t seeking a leadership opportunity! He’s tending sheep when God calls him.
God speaks through the bush to Moses.
It’s all about God’s call
Moses wasn’t seeking to lead people out of Egypt. He was a shepherd taking care of his father in law’s sheep. Exodus chapters 3 and 4 reveals God and Moses’ conversations. Moses obviously doesn’t feel qualified to lead! Moses asks God
13But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
God sends him Aaron and Moses is on his way to Egypt. A.W. Tozer explains:
I believe it might be accepted as a fairly reliable rule of thumb that the man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader.
The true leader will have no desire to lord it over God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing, and altogether as ready to follow as to lead, when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and more gifted man than himself has appeared.”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=tozer+moses&commit=Search accessed 3/3/24
God calls a person for His purpose. Without God’s Holy Spirit and His presence, all endeavors fail. It’s about God’s call, not our desires.
Got Questions explains what it means to be called by God:
We discover our call to a specific area of service by walking closely with the Lord, practicing obedience, and offering ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1–2; Colossians 1:10).
As we develop sensitivity to His voice, we move forward with what we know. When our hearts are set to obey the Lord, He confirms His call in a variety of ways: godly counsel, natural gifting, fruitful results, Scripture, and a sense of “rightness” that does not conflict with any of the other confirmations.
Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/called-by-God.html
Consider this for a moment in your life. It’s about your relationship with God, walking with Him, and discerning His voice! Patiently listen for Holy Spirit to guide you in discerning His ways and call!
Words of Grace & Hope 