May 25

Profiles in Patience – Moses

            On May 22, the failure of Moses' patience was the subject of our eventide devotional. Today, we shall take another look at God's friend. Like us, Moses was certainly not perfect. And, like us, he had his days of failures, and likewise, he had his day of brilliant successes. When discussing Moses, it is quite sobering and instructive to see what happened in the narrative of God's Word when people began gossiping behind Moses' back. Hear now how God responded to their murmuring:

"(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the Earth.) (God) said, 'Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Mose. He is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?' So the anger of the Lord burned against them…." (Numbers 12:3, 6-9a)

            The most humble man on all the Earth; a man who was called a personal friend by God; one who waited for 40 years in the wilderness for his ministry to begin– this is truly a profile of a patient man of God. Moses knew better than anyone what it meant to wait on God's perfect timing, perfect plan, and perfect deliverance.        Today we have an opportunity to learn much from this man. While the distance between us is measured in millennia, the lessons he teaches us are timeless.

The first is in humility. God's chosen, personal friend was described by the Holy Spirit as "the most humble man on Earth." Certainly, patience is the defining quality of humility. Humility is the result of a total and utter dependence on, and love for, God.

The second gem we may harvest from Moses' life is the example of obedience. Through this near faultless example of obedience, Moses learned that, by his obedience, he could release his trust totally to God and rest in the resultant faith. His life is a shining example of patience that was derived exclusively through obedience and humility.

            On this eventide, let us go before the same God Who befriended Moses and bend our knees in humility, asking that He wash us of our pride and selfishness and, in its place, leave the fresh aroma of humble obedience – the first fruit of our faith.