Exodus 2:11-25
Whenever challenges come into our life, there are two ways we can respond: God’s way or our way. Moses is an example of a man who, on separate occasions, tried out both options. In today’s passage, we see him taking matters into his own hands. Although his motives were pure—namely, the relief of one Hebrew man’s suffering—his method was wrong. Moses made three mistakes.
- He focused on the difficulty. How often have you and I done the same thing? The unfairness or pain of a situation grabs our attention and in our desire for a solution, we forget our all-powerful God.
- He relied on his own strength and understanding. When a problem arises, the most natural response is to do what we can to make it right. However, God wants us to rely on Him, not on ourselves.
- He acted impulsively. If a situation seems urgent, fixing the problem as fast as possible becomes our top priority. In our hastiness, we forgo waiting on the Lord.
Our way can look logical at the time, but let’s consider how effective Moses was in achieving his goal. An Egyptian man was killed, and the Hebrew people didn’t react favorably. Pharaoh, learning of the event, tried to kill him, and Moses had to flee Egypt.
We’ve all followed Moses’ example at some point and suffered the consequences of self-reliance. But God didn’t reject Moses or cancel His plans for him. Instead, He refined the future leader’s character through trials and gave him another chance. The Lord will do the same for us.
