His Divine Timing

Photo by Bruno Figueiredo

He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

Acts 7:25

Talking about Moses, knowing that God had called him to deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. (Exodus 2:11-15)He attempts to go at it with his own strength and understanding. It doesn’t quite work out. Even though he was called to be their deliverer he does it not in God’s way and timing, but in his own. After this, he runs to the wilderness for 40 years until the timing for his call came.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Don’t run ahead of God

Moses couldn’t wait to get on with purpose. He already knew that God had chosen him to be a deliverer. He was right, what he didn’t know was that there were things that needed to be in place for him to be able to carry out that calling.

We can be like Moses, God tells us how He wants to use us, and we wake up the next day trying to make it happen.

God will give you a word on what He has called you to do but will leave out the part that (it is going to take 10-20 years) to see its fulfillment. Prophetic words often never come with timelines. So we end up in a guesswork of when God wants to do it in our lives.

God will say, ‘You will preach the gospel to nations,” but will not tell you it will take you a decade before you see the realization of that word. Moses was sure that it was the right timing not knowing he was actually 40 years ahead of God in delivering the Israelites.

In the meantime

Between receiving the call and walking in it, there is a period where you don’t know what God is doing. You will find yourself in a season where what you are currently doing doesn’t seem to relate to what God has called you to.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Exodus 3:1

Moses fled to the wilderness and in the meantime, he became a shepherd for his father–in–law’s. Moses ‘ in the meantime’ was 40 years. We all will have an ‘in the meantime‘ season. God will have us doing things we don’t think are leading us to the great calling He has for our lives.

I remember entering an ‘in the meantime’ season. During this period, I had the awesome job of cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking, and running errands. Day in and day out, this was my job. I would wake up frustrated that I wasn’t doing what I thought I should do.

However, God was doing something in my heart. He was rooting out the pride that was in my heart. He was taking out the self-sufficiency that came so easily to me. Dealing with my overconfidence. Even though it seemed as if God wasn’t doing anything meaningful with me at this time, He was doing a work in my heart to prepare me for the call He has for me.

Some of us have been in the same unexciting seasons for years. We have stopped dreaming about doing great things. We are convinced that God has forgotten about us; we have become comfortable in our ‘ meantime’ seasons. Moses is our encouragement, God hadn’t forgotten him. God wasn’t late either, He was working behind the scenes to prepare Moses for the great job He had for him.

The people weren’t ready

Even though Moses thought they should know he was called to be their deliverer, they didn’t understand. They were very offended at him for trying to deliver them. (Exodus 2:13-14)

The Israelites weren’t quite ready for God’s deliverance yet. So Moses had to wait for the right time until they were ready.

Sometimes, God, has us waiting because the people we are called to aren’t quite ready yet. God has you waiting to get married because your spouse inst ready yet. God has to prepare them too. That ministry is taking time because the people you are called to shepherd haven’t been positioned yet. God has you waiting on that dream job because the company might not have created that position yet. God has you waiting because your resources aren’t ready yet.

During those many days, the King of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. Exodus 2: 23

God had to wait until the Israelites cried out for help to send them a deliverer. Moses’ call wasn’t ready until those who needed deliverance asked God for help.

There was no purpose for Moses if he had no one to deliver. Our ability to do what God has called us to do is dependent on the people we need to do it with being ready. Until they are, we are going to have to be patient.

You are not called to yourself, you are called to someone, and your purpose will have no meaning if there is nobody to benefit from it. So, God will have us in waiting seasons because He is also preparing those who need to benefit from our call.

His divine timing

When Moses was ready, and the Israelites were ready, now God could do what He had called Moses for.

God comes to Moses after 40 long years in the wilderness. 40 years earlier Moses was ready, now we will see that he is no longer the overconfident deliverer he once was.

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians… Come I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:7, 10-11

We meet a different Moses from the one we met in Exodus 2. He is no longer confident that God has called him to be a deliverer. The wilderness has done a work in his heart, now God can use him and get all the gory.

We are ready for the call when we no longer are infatuated with doing it. We have gone through the wilderness and fully understand the task in front of us. We have also gone through the process and dealt with our hearts. We have allowed God to work in us to a point where we can do great things without pride filling our hearts. We are no longer impressed with ourselves but are fully leaning on God.

This is the beauty of His divine timing; God has worked on us so much that He can be seen in us. There is no pride in our gifting. We don’t know if we can do it. There is no longer overconfidence in us. If He doesn’t help us, we know we cannot be able to do it.

God wasn’t in a hurry to use Moses. What He had for him needed time and preparation for him to do it well. God is also not in a hurry to use us. However, if we will trust in His divine timing for us, we will get to the purpose that He called us to.