A dear friend recently asked me “What type of sacrifice or deal with God did Moses make to be chosen by God to write the first five books of the Bible, and for God to use him to do all the miracles that he did?”
And my response stuck with me. So I thought I would share it with you here.
I said, I don’t think it was about so much what Moses did, as the fact that God chose him.
God chose Moses to manifest His glory to nations that did not worship Him. It was less about what Moses did to earn that position of authority.
God simply in all his wisdom, chose him.
God is sovereign so He can do that. We are part of His body. He assigns one to a role in the eye. The other the elbow. The other the left ankle, etc.
God chose Moses to be the leader of his newly formed nation, Israel.
With that being said, Moses also chose to be chosen.
What does it mean to chose to be chosen?
God can select someone first for a role. And by their own actions they can qualify themselves to maintain that leadership, or they can disqualify themselves. My Pastor Dr. Michelle Corral would often teach us that there are character traits that God uses, and character traits that God refuses.
King Saul compared with King David are great examples of this. Their life stories are in the bible from 1 Samuel 10 through the end of 2 Samuel and I would suggest you take a read to get the full story. I'll give summaries below.
Saul was God’s first choice to be the very first King over Israel. Before then there were only judges. Saul started off so humble that he hid when God decided to announce him as King. He did not want the leadership or the fame and responsibility that came with being King. However once in the role, several times Saul failed to make adjustments to his heart and actions based on the instructions from the spiritual mentor in his life (the prophet Samuel).
He had one very loud warning, but Saul refused to get his insecurities in check. He was a King more concerned about appealing to his citizens than being willing to accept the responsibilities of God-given leadership and obey God even when it required making the tough calls that were for the best of his citizens and caused his popularity ratings to go down.
Saul’s character flaws would not have disqualified him for his destiny if he had corrected them because King David was not perfect either. David was Saul’s replacement as King over Israel. His preparation took place on the solitary hills and fields with a flock of his father’s sheep. He protected the sheep with his own life. That was his training ground for years later when as King he would be the one to lay down his life for his citizens.
Which is why his affair with Bathsheeba and afterwards murder of her husband Uriah was such a betrayal. Not only was Uriah the Hittite in David’s army and risking his life for the King and the nation. He was one of David’s mighty men! He was part of an elite company of 37 warriors selected out of the army that were the King’s personal guard. Uriah was one of a select few chosen for his bravery and performance in combat. He made special vows of service and consecration that other men in the army did not make to God and to the King. When David slept with Bathsheba and killed Uriah, He broke His vows or protection that were made with a man who served under Him. That is something so unseemly in God’s sight.
Can you handle the truth?
But when David was confronted with truth by his spiritual mentor (the prophet Nathan), he immediately admitted his wrongs. He fully repented.
Let’s look at Saul— what did Saul do when confronted with truth? He made excuses and lied to prophet Samuel about whether or not he obeyed the commands. Saul refused to allow his soul to be confronted with truth, even truth he preferred not to see about himself.
David on the other hand, did not get hung up by the uncomfortable truth. He saw his error, and immediately he repented, and sought God’s mercy and forgiveness. He did not hide from the error.
Saul, I wonder if he was ever truly convinced about God’s goodness and mercy? For he did not seek repentance but in superficial ways (i.e. he did not want to appear out of Samuel’s graces before the people of Israel).
Strength in Meekness
Okay so that was a long way of answering the original question about what did Moses do to be selected to do all the amazing things he did in his life. I believe a person can be
1 ) chosen for a special assignment by God. But that person must go through a
2 ) process before hand, as well as stay
3 ) yielded while in the new assignment to last. He must stay humble and correctable and always staying in a place of truth.
Which brings me back to Moses. Clearly Moses consented to his process because the bible describes Moses as the meekest man on earth. I do not believe Moses was born blessed with a “meekness” gene. No, I believe Moses yielded to the process of character refinement that God formed in his soul, which produced meekness.
Meekness is not weakness, or false humility. It is power restrained, disciplined, and yielded to the Holy Spirit’s control.
Moses was the most powerful man on the planet, not only as leader of a new and wealthy nation but because He had direct access to the God of the Heavens-- he had a mainline connection where they spoke face to face.
Being meek when you have great power, authority, wealth and prestige is a big test. When you are in lack or need, you have no choice but to lean on God. When you are at the summit, or mountain top, there are so many options. It takes discipline to turn to God in those times. It’s a discipline and practice of many times turning the soul to God, and choosing to lean on and gain strength from the Holy Spirit within oneself and not the flesh. So that in surprise attacks such as after the Amalakites devastated their land, David was able to strengthen himself in the Lord.