“When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
How often do we try to accomplish God’s will in our own timing?
God brought me back to the story of Moses this week, back to the very beginning. A story that I’ve read time and time again, but this time it was different. It’s amazing how the Word of God works like that…
Moses was about 40 years old when he decided to go visit his brothers. He sees one of them being mistreated and after looking around, to the right and to the left, he strikes the Egyptian, killing him, and then tries to bury him. He made the assumption that his brothers would understand God was bringing them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. (Acts 7/ Ex 2)
I don’t think God told Moses to kill the man, and I don’t think Moses consulted the Lord before acting. I think he saw the situation and decided to take matters into his own hands. He acted after making sure no one was around to see what he was doing. Maybe Moses had begun to understand or have an idea of the Lord’s plan for his life, to deliver his people, and he thought that by acting in this way, his brothers would understand that that deliverance had come. What Moses didn’t realize at the time was that God had an incredibly bigger plan, and it was going to take place in His timing.
So what does Moses do? He runs away to a land called Midian, and sits down by a well (ex 2:15). I’m not sure how long he traveled or exactly how far, but at some point he wears out, and he sits down right by a well..
Backing up a little bit… Last month some girls on my team and one of my very best friends from home were all robbed in the middle of the night. All of us lost computers, electronics, and other valuable items, but beyond that, some of the girls lost their sense of security and peace about walking the streets of Kenya, and even being in Africa. I went from being sad, to frustrated, to trying to help and fix and heal, and one day I realized how exhausted I had been trying to bring about restoration that wasn’t mine to bring. I heard God saying, “be content in Me, content in the fact that you were not there, content that they are where they are, and trust that I can take care of it. Stop trying to complete my work on your timing.”
Flash forward to the beginning of this month, God kept bring up the idea of living water, being filled by him, and operating from a place where I was drawing strength, energy, life from the well that He has planted within me..
But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life. John 4:14
…Jesus stood up and cried out, :If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him. John 7:37-38
If I’m living in the fullness of Christ in me, I shouldn't grow tired or weary. I shouldn't “burn out” because God doesn’t supply a limited amount of water or life, He supplies in full, in abundance, and from a place of riches and abundance.
Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness. John 1:16
I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16
He kept bringing me back to ‘the well’ time and time again, and the same was true and the end of this week when I found Moses himself at the well. I laughed when I read this, because it was 5 words that made everything God had been trying to tell me this month all tie together.
We see people we care about suffering and hurting, and we try to take matters into our own hands. We try to do God’s work for him, and find ourselves looking over a mess we’ve created. Sometimes we just drop the shovel and run because we don’t know what else to do. We run from what we know, through the desert, and when we are worn out, we slow down, we stop, we sit down. But God doesn’t leave us breathless. He reminds us of the well. The well that resides in our hearts. That’s why He tells us to guard our hearts, for it is the source of life. It holds the water.
I think I tried to fit about five blogs into one, because if we’re being honest I’m not the most consistent blogger :), but through all of this, I really just want to encourage all of you to wait. Wait on the Lord. Maybe you’ve started to understand His will or His ways, but don’t try to accomplish them on your own timing. Wait for the Lord. Maybe there are people you love and care about who are hurting and you want to just do and do and do to try to make things better. dont. Sit by the well. drink. Be refreshed and be content.
“Cease striving and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
