This week we read from Acts 7 in church, where Stephen recounts the history of Israel. The portion we read described Moses, and in one of those moments of Holy Spirit presence in church I saw myself so clearly. Moses was a fixer. He saw injustice and he jumped in to fix it (v. 23-28). He was about my age then, and trying to do the right thing. But his people did not appreciate or accept his interventions! God had to take him through his own personal wilderness years (40 of them!) before he was ready to really lead, to hear the voice of the Lord and to respond. Then the one whom the people rejected became the one whom God chose to end the oppression of His people, but in God’s time and God’s way, not Moses’. I want to be more like the 80 year old Moses than the 40 year old, broken of my assurance that I see the right and willing to lay aside my solutions and wait upon the Lord. This has been a theme of God’s teaching for me this year. . . .
So I was ready to go into our annual reviews with our team, the time we meet with each person and talk about the blessings and challenges of 2007, goals and dreams fro 2008, very quietly, afraid of pushing my own agenda. Then this morning I read Ezekiel 33: the watchman who sees trouble ahead but remains silent is guilty.
It was good to find these two Scriptures in two consecutive days. I want to wait upon God’s timing and direction, trust Him to address injustice, let Him lead and use me as He would, in Bundibugyo and with our dear team. But I also want to be faithful to speak out. Wisdom means discerning when to be Moses hanging out in the desert until God dramatically works; and when to be Ezekiel actively addressing wrongs.
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