Taking Matters into Our Own Hands

"One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

For those of you who may not know yet, we have a new kitten in the Ballester house, and his name is Moses! He was named this by Emily because she rescued him out of the "bulrushes" of our full force backyard sprinkler system on a hot July morning when it was going to be blazing hot, he was soaking wet, hairless and starving… he was only 2 days old, abandoned by his mother for some reason, but scooped up and welcomed into our home. He has since been amply bottle fed and nurtured and I am happy to report has grown to be a chubby, active BOUNCING baby boy under the tender care of his adoptive parents, Emily and Andrew. As a result of this new family addition, (or a Divine inspiration in my private Bible study time), I have been studying the life of the original "Moses" these past few weeks.

Most of us have heard about Moses and his incredible part in God’s plan to deliver the Israelites from the tyranny of Egyptian slavery and suffering. He was called to be God’s response to the cries of the people. He was a deliverer in the service of our Mighty Deliverer, God Himself, and was responsible for leading over a million people from Egypt to the Promised Land. But Moses’ life wasn’t always filled with victories and successes. He had to spend decades in God’s School of Training before he found God’s timing for his life. He spent the first 40 years of his life as a “somebody” in the lap of Egyptian luxury, he spend the next 40 years in the wastelands of a desolate desert as a “nobody”, and he emerged to spend the last 40 years of his life as a humble and ready servant leader who would be credited with writing the first five books of the Bible and leading the Israelites out of bondage and suffering. I believe in some respects that Moses always felt a call to be a deliverer, but the story we are considering today shows us that he hadn’t learned a crucial lesson yet- the dangers of taking matters into his own hands.

Moses was raised in the luxuries of the elaborate Egyptian life of that day by the daughter of Pharaoh. Educated in the finest schools, trained in all sorts of philosophy, art, and languages, and yet scripture still indicates that he had a connection with his own people who must have been suffering all around him as slaves while he grew up in the palace. Many people attribute his first call to deliver the Israelites from their suffering much later when he was in the desert speaking to the burning bush, but I believe God placed that burden on his heart much earlier. The problem was though that he just didn’t understand God’s timing at that point in his life. Verse 11 of our passage today tells us that he witnessed one of his people being mercilessly beaten by an Egyptian, ‘one of his brethren’. Without even realizing it, Moses entered into a very vulnerable dangerous time of life. I believe he somehow knew he was destined to help his people, he must have witnessed countless previous incidents of brutality and injustice, and perhaps he had been growing consistently impatient over the whole matter. In that state of mind, I believe that is where Exodus chapter 2 took place as we observe how he launched a premature strike against a horrible atrocity that resulted in personal disaster… and a forty year setback for Moses. It would be easy to explain this as a lapse of judgment on his part, or a snap and hasty act, but that is not what scripture tells us. Verse 12 says he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and ‘hid him in the sand’, (and not that well either because they found the body the next day!) Notice he looked ‘this way and that’ but never up to the God who had placed a call on his life. He acted with his own abilities and strengths. He took matters into his own hands, and it ended badly for him. His people turned on him, he became a fugitive in the eyes of the ruling Egyptians, and he ran out into the Middle eastern deserts to die. Keep in mind that Moses was very sincere in what he had done, he was moved by his desire to do something right’ but that desire overcame him. Think about that for a moment; you and I can become so dedicated to the will of God and driven by a false sense of purpose that we prematurely take matters into our own hand and leave God completely out of the loop. Did that cruel taskmaster need to be punished? yes. Was it wrong to beat that Hebrew as he did? certainly. But when Moses stepped in and began his own private Operation Deliverance, he was energized by the flesh, not the Spirit. How easily this happens to good men and women with the highest motives and the best of intentions.

Timing is just as important as action. I believe that is where wisdom comes in. Knowledge tells us what to do; wisdom tells us when to do it and how to carry it out. God has no limitations in his ability to pull something off, but he is going to do it in his time and not before and not late. The Bible assures us that God is not slow concerning His promises as some count slowness, but is patient towards us, not wanting for any to perish but for all to come to repentance’ (II Peter 3:9). I am sure that we have all chugged along in first gear wondering why God wasn’t doing something in overdrive about a situation that obviously needed a divine intervention. At time, our prayers may go something like this; ‘HEY, GOD… can’t You see this is serious? Can’t You move this up a notch on your priority list/ hurry up, Lord. I’ve been talking to you about this for weeks/ the problem, of course, is not that god is too slow. It’s that we are too fast. Too fast for our own good and sometimes take things into our human hands…

We must remember that in every circumstance presented to us, even the greatest of opportunities to stand for god, god waits for you to seek HIS counsel, seek HIS face, ask HIM if this is HIS timing for you to take action or to move on HIS behalf. You may see a great opportunity, but it’s not for you to do, it’s for you to pray about for God to send the person he has chosen. It may be for you to provide for, it may be for you to assist in, but until god gives you the go ahead, you must not give into your instincts to take matters into your own hands. Just like Moses, when you take matters into your own hands, you will end up with a corpse and a shovel in your hands and a shallow grave at your feet. I imagine that Moses wasn’t that good at covering up the dead Egyptian since they discovered the body the next day.

Consider this closing thought…. 40 years later, when God took charge and Moses humbly acted according to God’s timing…. GOD was able to cover up ALL the dead Egyptians. God buried their entire army under the Red Sea along with their horses, weapons, and chariots. When God’s in it, the job gets done. When our human flesh is leading us, we can’t even bury the consequences that will surely follow. Avoid taking matters into your own hands, no matter what it looks like to you. Trust God to move and act from HIS perspective of time. Let HIM take matters into HIS Hands!

Shalom, sister Lahoma

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