For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).
The Bible tells us how God chose Moses to be Israel’s deliverer. However, his ambition got the better of him and he took matters into his own hands. In Exodus 2:11-22, Moses witnessed an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew. In anger, he killed the Egyptian and tried to hide the body.
The next day, when he tried to intervene in a scuffle between two Hebrews, one of them questioned his authority and asked if he was going to kill him as he killed the Egyptian. Afraid that his action of killing the Egyptian wasn’t a secret after all, Moses fled to the land of Midian.
In Stephen’s address to the Sanhedrin, as recounted by Luke in Acts 7, he underscores Moses’ assumption that his brethren would have recognized him as God’s chosen deliverer. Acts 7:25 (MSG) says, “He thought his brothers would be glad that he was on their side, and even see him as an instrument of God to deliver them. But they didn’t see it that way.”
Moses allowed his zeal to becloud and overshadow God’s intended process. At the time, he didn’t surrender his ambition to divine guidance. He was chosen by God to be the deliverer alright, but he tried to work things out his own way. It’s a mistake a lot of people make.
In your life, learn to surrender your ambitions to His divine guidance. Follow God’s plan, the divine blueprint. He’s more passionate about your success than you could ever be. I discovered this early as I started out in ministry and it changed my life. Learn to pursue His dream and do things His way; it’ll take away the stress and the struggle.
Remember the admonition that God gave to Moses later when he was to build the Tabernacle; He said, “… See…that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount” (Hebrews 8:5). When you follow His prescribed order, you won’t have to fight for anything; success will be effortless. You’d keep gliding from glory to glory. Things are remarkably easy when you follow the Lord’s guidance and do things His way.
Confession/Prayer
Dear Father, I surrender my ambitions to your divine guidance, and I make every moment of my life count for the Gospel. I find joy in pleasing you and walking in your perfect will. Thank you for being more interested in my success than I could ever be, a reflection of your unflinching love and overflowing grace, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY
Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 37:5; John 16:13
1-year bible reading plan
Luke 10:25-42; Joshua 23-24
2-year bible reading plan
Romans 7:12-25; Psalm 108