"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. (Exodus 3:1,2 NIV)
It is fascinating to read stories of divine encounters of men in the Bible. From the Old to the New Testament, one thing threads through all the incidents, the people God appeared to in order to give an assignment or call for a unique purpose were all busy doing something before their calls. Let's look at a few of them.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers...Joseph had a dream (Genesis 37:2,5 NIV).
The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:11,12 NIV)
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. (Joshua 1:1,2 NIV)
Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. (1 Sam 17:17-23 NIV)
So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah...He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (1 kings 19:19-21 NIV)
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 418-:22 NIV)
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28 NIV)
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest. and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:1-6 NIV)
Saul also met Samuel while looking for his father's donkey. All these passages including our text today about Moses encountering God as he tended his fathers flock, testify to the fact that God places value on diligence. He doesn't recruit lazy people for his special assignments. He calls those who have their hands full trying out something, working on some natural endeavor. This is pretty logical because anyone who is faithful in natural things will transfer that same attitude to spiritual things and anyone who is lazy and tardy regarding natural things will be the same when it comes to spiritual things.
The question for you then is. Is your attitude toward your job, care for your natural possessions, and seemingly little assignments delegated to you qualifying you or disqualifying you for God's call on your life? Remember, if you are faithful in little, you will be committed over much.
Decision of the Day
I understand that God uses diligent people. I renounce laziness and procrastination. I will get busy doing what is available. I will go to school, get a job or volunteer if need be. I will not run away from little assignments. I will take care of my private affairs, being orderly. I know God uses all these to decide on those He'll use for His assignments.
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