Moses said to Yahweh, "Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak." He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else." Exodus 4:10–13 WEB.

When Moses was born, his parents were enslaved by the Egyptians. A law in Egypt required male Hebrew children to be thrown into the Nile River at birth. Fortunately for Moses, his clever mother placed a basket under him first.

As Moses drifted down the crocodile-infested river, Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as her own child. So Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince in the house of Pharaoh and received an education his mother could have never given him.

When Moses was around forty years old, he went out to see his people, the Hebrews. He saw an Egyptian taskmaster cruelly beating an enslaved Hebrew, so Moses tried to stop him. They got into a struggle, and Moses killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

The next time Moses came to visit, two Hebrews fought each other. So he tried to break them up. One of them asked him, "Who made you a prince and judge over us? Do you plan to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"

The news about the dead Egyptian had begun to spread. When Pharaoh learned of it, Moses had to flee from Egypt. He lived as a humble shepherd in the land of Midian for forty years. Moses married a wife and began raising a family there. He got on with his life, but eventually, God came calling.

God had prepared Moses throughout his life. The Lord had invested a lot of time in the "Moses Project." He had provided Moses with an education and a desire to deliver his people. He taught him humility and patience while leading a flock of wandering sheep for decades. Moses no longer had any personal ambition or agenda to fulfill. He was eighty years old, washed up, a broken man, and now ready for God to use. The Lord had prepared him for this day.

That's when the Lord showed up and made His request. He told Moses to go back to Egypt, but Moses told Him, "Please send someone else" (Exodus 4:13). Looking back over his past failures, Moses just didn't feel up to the task anymore. He looked at himself as having to be the deliverer and remembered the last time he tried that. Moses no longer wanted to go, but it was now time, and God refused to take no for an answer.

In my own life, I experienced something very similar. When I was about twenty, I wanted to be in ministry so badly. I attended seminary, got ordained, and felt like I knew a lot. But after I graduated, I found all the doors to ministry supernaturally closed. I ended up pumping septic tanks, digging foundations, pressure washing, polishing brass, building and painting houses, and playing music. Whatever it took to pay the bills.

Years passed, and the Lord nudged me into working on computers, programming, and website building. Eventually, I forgot about being in ministry at all. I failed to see that He was busy preparing me the entire time with the skills I would need. When it seemed like I had forgotten everything I had learned and felt unprepared, He suddenly pushed me into full-time ministry. I was forty-five. I no longer wanted to go, and I wished that He would just "send someone else." Suffice it to say that He can be persistent, and here I am.

I had spent years working on computer networks and volunteering as a technical director at local churches. Those skills are vital to what we are doing today. My time in music prepared me to write and record original songs. The things I learned in construction allow me to fix the floor when it sags or the roof when it leaks. Nothing is wasted.

God is always preparing and educating you for what is coming. Sometimes, the most humble position will teach you things the most significant college cannot. When a door closes, you should get excited. You have graduated from that class and are now going to learn something new.

When God starts talking about your future, don't start talking about your past. That's what our enemy does. He will always remind you of your past, failures, and weaknesses. "Look at you! You can't do this! There is no hope! Why bother? Just quit." That's the wrong voice to listen to.

The Lord will always speak about your future. It doesn't matter what you may have done yesterday. Today is a new day, the first one of the rest of your life. Every time I stumbled and came back to the Lord, He wanted to talk about my future, not my past. He is the God of today, and He brings restoration and hope with Him.

God will never give up on you. The silent times are just a part of your education. So don't give up. Just take it one day at a time. We will continue learning as long as we live here because God's knowledge is infinite. We still have a long way to go. This is your life passing by. Pay attention to what is happening in it. You will use it in the future.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach me all I need to know and put me where You want me to be. I choose to trust You with my life. I am Yours, Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Today is Thankful Thursday at the Ministry Events group! This event gives us an opportunity encourage each other by posting thoughts, moments, and prayers of gratitude for Him, His creation and all that He does in our lives. All our welcome! To join, just click on the group name and then the join link on the page that will follow. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.