The dreams of youth are vast and intense. If all that imagination and energy could be harnessed, who knows what might be achieved in its wake?
But for dreams to come to fruition other ingredients are necessary. Knowhow is borne out of instruction and experience. It takes years of trial and error to equip you to handle the storms of the unexpected.
Moses was one third through his life when he decided to free Israel from Egypt. He was loaded to the gunwales with everything a young man would think he needs to do the job. Of education and leadership status, he was a Prince of Egypt. Concerning birthright, he was a Hebrew. And as for zeal, nobody could question it. However, Moses’ dreams were derailed when he killed that Egyptian. He found out the hard way that his fellow Israelites thought him little more than a spoilt royal upstart. A rogue prince who could turn on them as he had turned on the Egyptian.
So, thus began the sheep herding phase of Moses’ existence. The middle phase of his life was spent wandering around the Sinai Peninsula tending sheep for his father-in-law. Only then did God meet him at the Burning Bush. It was here that God called Moses to spend the rest of his life leading the nation of Israel. His response to God’s call was summed up when he told God to “send somebody else.” Whatever dreams and schemes Moses had for delivering God’s people had long since dissipated in the heat of the desert sun. Like most men in his situation, he would have preferred to spend the rest of his days thinking about ‘what might have been.’But God wasn’t having it!
Moses is proof positive that the last days of a man’s life can be used by God to achieve great things. God had provided the first 40 years in the pagan palace so Moses would one day see its fabulous wealth and power destroyed by the true God. God used the second 40 years to make the shepherd of Sinai into the shepherd of Israel. And God provided the last 40 years to use this leader of Israel to bring his people to the Promised Land. Moses’ retirement village was the Camp of Israel.
His meal plan was manna from heaven. His golden handshake was a brief view of the promised land before he died. God had worked for him until his dying day. This kind of starting over is impossible unless it is God who is calling and empowering you.
John Staiger
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