Basic HTML Version
Speedy Preparation for Work
329
closely linked with heaven that God talked with him face to face,
“as a man speaketh unto his friend.”
Exodus 33:11
.
Thus educated, Moses was prepared to heed the call of God to
exchange his shepherd’s crook for the rod of authority; to leave
his flock of sheep to take the leadership of an idolatrous, rebellious
people. But he was still to depend on the invisible Leader. As the rod
was an instrument in his hand, so he was to be a willing instrument in
the hand of Christ. He was to be the shepherd of God’s people; and
through his firm faith and abiding trust in the Lord, many blessings
were to come to the children of Israel....
It was implicit faith in God that made Moses what he was. Ac-
cording to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. All the
learning of the wise men could not make Moses a channel through
which the Lord could work, until he lost his self-confidence, realized
his own helplessness, and put his trust in God; until he was willing
to obey God’s commands, whether they seemed to his human reason
to be right or not....
It was not the teaching of the schools of Egypt that enabled
Moses to triumph over his enemies, but an ever-abiding, unflinching
[409]
faith, a faith that did not fail under the most trying circumstances. At
the command of God, Moses advanced, although apparently there
was nothing ahead for his feet to tread upon. More than a million
people were depending on him, and he led them forward step by
step, day by day. God permitted these lonely travels through the
wilderness that His people might obtain an experience in enduring
hardship, and that when they were in peril they might know that
there was relief and deliverance in God alone. Thus they might learn
to know and to trust God, and to serve Him with a living faith.
The Most Important Lesson
God is not dependent upon men of perfect education. His work
is not to wait while His servants go through such lengthy, elaborate
preparations as some of our schools are planning to give. He wants
men who appreciate the privilege of being laborers together with
Him—men who will honor Him by rendering implicit obedience to
His requirements, regardless of previously inculcated theories. There
is no limit to the usefulness of those who put self to one side, make