The Call of Moses - allowing God to prepare and refine us (over a long time)

This post is taken from the Resurgence blog. You can read the whole post here.

The Call of Moses

Greg Qualls » God Scripture Biblical People Church Calling

I’ve had several friends in my life who have had callings similar to Jesus’ disciples in their lives. They’ve all seemed to go like this:

1. Receive a vision or hear a voice calling you to do something
2. Drop everything to follow the calling
3. Receive on-the-job training
4. Live out your calling

I wish I could say the same for me, but the calling on my life has felt more like Moses’ than the disciples'. 

Most of us think Moses’ calling came when he heard God’s voice from the burning bush. The reality is, Moses knew he was supposed to free God’s people a lot earlier.

Even Moses Rushed God

Acts 7:25 tells us when Moses killed the Egyptian in Exodus 2:11-12, “He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.”  Moses knew what his calling was before he fled into the wilderness.  His problem wasn’t that he didn’t know what his calling was. His problem was he jumped the gun -- he didn’t wait for God’s timing.

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Many of us rush into our calling without allowing God to purify and prepare us through the trials and fires of everyday life.

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The beauty of the story is that even though Moses gave up on his calling, God didn’t give up on Moses. It was all part of God’s ultimate plan to prepare Moses for his mission. Moses spent 40 years shepherding sheep in the wilderness. Then God came to Moses and called him to free his people, which is only the beginning of Moses’ ministry. Moses ends up shepherding God’s people in the wilderness for another 40 years. God used Moses’ secular job experience to prepare him for his future ministry.

God Knows When You Are Ready

Many of us rush into our calling without allowing God to purify and prepare us through the trials and fires of everyday life. We have no life experience out of which we can minister to our people. We hurt a lot of people along the way due to our inexperience. We’ve rushed into ministry without asking God whether right now is the time to drop everything and follow our calling. 

This is my story. After fleeing Texas from a position as a youth minister, I spent the past 4 years doing sales for a large corporation. I know this isn’t ultimately what God has planned for me, but I know right now isn’t the time. I rest in the fact that when I come across my burning bush, I will know God has been using my everyday trials and fires to prepare me to minister to his people.