Exodus 2:13-18: a reflection

13He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” 14He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.” 15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”

Moses, sensing his calling to help his oppressed people, takes matters into his own hands, killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. But his self-appointed attempt at deliverance goes wrong; his deed becomes known, Pharaoh seeks his life, and Moses flees into the wilderness of Midian, where he will spend the next forty years as a shepherd. His premature, self-directed effort to deliver Israel failed, and instead of leading his people, he found himself an exile at a well in a foreign land.

Notice the gap between Moses' timing and God's. Moses felt the call and acted, but in his own way and his own time, and it failed. God's deliverance of Israel through Moses would come, but not yet, and not like this; it would come after forty years of hidden preparation in the wilderness, when God himself would call Moses at the burning bush. The years in Midian were not wasted; they were preparation, shaping the impulsive young man into the humble leader God would use.

That gap speaks to our own impatience. We may sense a calling or a purpose and rush to fulfill it in our own way and time, only to fail, and then to spend what feels like wasted years in obscurity. But God's timing is not ours, and the hidden seasons are often preparation. Moses' forty years as a shepherd were readying him for the work ahead. If you feel your calling is delayed, or that you are in a wilderness season that seems to waste your gifts, do not despair. God's timing is not yours, and he may be preparing you, in the hidden years, for what he will call you to in his time. Trust the preparation, and wait for his call.

Lord, Moses tried to deliver his people in his own way and time, and it failed, sending him into forty years of wilderness exile; yet those hidden years were not wasted, but preparation for the work you would call him to. When I sense a calling and rush to fulfill it in my own way and time, and fail, and find myself in what feels like wasted years, remind me of Moses. Your timing is not mine, and the hidden seasons are often preparation. Help me trust that you may be readying me, in obscurity, for what you will call me to in your time. Keep me from despair when my calling seems delayed, and teach me to trust the preparation and wait for your call.