Your Daily Devotional for July 11, 2006

 

July 11, 2006

 

Waiting by the Well

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.”

 

Exodus 2:15

 

As you study the life of Moses, before you read about the seven plagues God sent upon Egypt, the great Exodus out of captivity, or the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, you will read about a time of waiting—a time of forty years that Moses spent in the land of Midian awaiting his destiny. Like Moses, many times a Christian must go through a period of brokenness, training, and waiting before experiencing the fullness of God’s plan for his life.

 

In the preceding verses, Moses made a mistake that would cost him everything. Verse 11 says, “when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.” When Moses witnessed this act of violence against one of his own countrymen, his heart of compassion rose to a point of indignation. Moses looked around him, but he failed to look up. Thinking that his sin would not be revealed, he took justice into his own hands and killed the Egyptian. His love for the people of God was a noble choice, but his action was a sin.

 

When God saw the sin and pride in Moses’ heart, He moved him to a place of training. In verse 15, Moses is forced to flee into the land of Midian. Once amidst all the prominence and splendor of Egypt, Moses sat down by a well in a moment of loneliness, waiting, and isolation.

 

Sometimes, sin in the believer’s heart will bring him to a desert place of waiting. Other times, these trials are simply a part of God’s plan for molding and shaping the heart or a Christian man or woman. Either way, you can have confidence that God has not forgotten you during this time. Though the circumstances may seem hopeless, God is preparing you for greater usefulness.

 

Dr. and Mrs. Kim are dear friends of mine that have been faithfully serving the Lord for over 45 years at the Bible Baptist Church of Seoul, South Korea. During the Korean War, Mrs. Kim’s parents brought her from North Korea to live with friends in Seoul. Soon after that, the 38^th Parallel was drawn and many thousands of families were separated from that point forward. Since that day, Mrs. Kim has never seen her family.

 

A few years ago, while I was visiting the Kims, we took a trip to see the 38^th Parallel. As we stood near the border, looked into North Korea and saw the devastated hillsides and the city below, Mrs. Kim thought of her family that she hasn’t seen for so many years. She began to weep and tears rolled down her cheeks. Just then, she started to sing a song that I often heard her sing:

 

“Take me, break me, mold me, and make me. I want to do thy will, Oh Lord.”

 

Mrs. Kim was saying to the Lord that she would be thankful for any trial that prepared her heart for greater usefulness.

 

What is the Lord using in your life to prepare you for greater usefulness? Are you waiting by a well? Do no despair; trust the Lord and allow him to mold your life. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

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