Defining Moments. We all have them. Some of my defining moments would include:
- The divorce of my parents when I was 6 years old
- An invitation from my best friend to attend his church youth group when I was a high school freshman
- Hearing God speak loud and clear as a freshman at Tulane University
- Hearing God speak loud and clear as a junior at Tulane University
Without going into details, each of these moments in time had serious repercussions on the rest of my life.
In Exodus 2-3, we read about three incredibly significant defining moments in the life of Moses.
His adoption by Pharaoh’s daughter – This would define the first 40 years of his life. he was raised in the court of Pharaoh. He had royal privileges. He was given educational opportunities. He developed leadership skills. God used this time in his life to prepare him for the future. My guess is that it was also a confusing time for him as he dually spent time with his birth mom and his adoptive mom, a Hebrew and an Egyptian.
The killing of an Egyptian – This incident would define the middle 40 years of his life. As a result of this murder Moses was forced to flee the royal court and take refuge in Midian. Here he got married, had children, was mentored by his father-in-law Jethro, and learned how to shepherd sheep. And he spent a lot of time by himself out in the wilderness with these sheep. All of which was preparing him for how God was planning to use him.
The burning bush – This crazy moment is one that I have no doubt Moses kept coming back to in the last 40 years of his life. Especially when he was exhausted spiritually, mentally, and physically; when the burden of leadership was almost too much to bear; when he was clueless concerning what God was doing; when his “sheep” rebelled and wanted to go back to Egypt; when he felt like a failure and wanted to give up; when he realized that he would never get to enter the Promised Land himself.
Moses had to keep going back to the burning bush to remind himself WHY he was doing WHAT he was doing. It is no different for us. We need to know why we are doing what we are doing. If we do not then life can become a dull drudgery rather than a dutiful delight. Start with WHY. It will help you persevere through the difficult “whats” of life.