From Problems to Hallowed Ground

Bill Brinkworth

Moses had more than the usual “thumps and bumps” life had to offer. As a baby, to escape death by the pharaoh’s henchmen, his mother set him afloat in a bulrush bassinet down an Egyptian river. Soon he was adopted by a new mother; only seeing his biological parents in his younger years. He was raised in a totally strange, ungodly culture; far from his real family. He often thought of his real parents; how he was raised, and of the Hebrews he had lived amongst. When he saw one of them being beaten, Moses stepped in to protect his Hebrew countryman, and killed the Egyptian attacker.

Because of this, once again, Moses found himself without a family; as he fled the pharaoh’s wrath and the leader’s attempt on his life. There in another strange land, Midian, he faced angry outcries from shepherds keeping women from getting water first. Again he stood up for the underdogs. He stood up against the shepherds and helped the women get their water. As a reward for Moses’ help, the maids’ tale of his heroism led him to get a job tending sheep. It was a very strange, different land he was now living in. He had come from pauper to prince and, he found himself a pauper again, but employed.

His job of watching sheep was a lonely one. For months he may have been alone on the back-side of the mountains with only the baaing voices of his sheep to break the monotony. It was there, Moses one day saw a sight that changed his life. If it were not for all the “bad things” that had happened in his life, he would not have been at that place.

Moses saw a sight that he had never seen, or even heard of before. Moses saw a bush that was burning. It burned and burned, but was never devoured by the lapping tongues of the fire’s flame. It should have been a charred pile of ash, but on it burned. As he walked up to the strange phenomenon, God’s voice talked to him out of the green, but burning bush.

Although Moses faced many hard times, it was at that bush that God called him into a special ministry. Because he was where he was supposed to be, Moses became a leader that changed history for himself and for Israel.

Trials and tribulations are not necessarily a bad thing. Quite often they are used by God, to bring a person to the place where God wants him to be, and where God can use him. God used Moses’ difficult times to put the man of God in the position God needed him. God also used trials and tribulations to put other biblical characters in a position where they could be used, including:

Sarah. If Sarah had not been barren for over 80 years, and then conceived a child, many would not be encouraged that God could do anything.
Joseph. If the hard times Joseph experienced did not happen, he would not have been in the position to help save his family in the famine.
Hannah. If Samuel’s mother had not been barren, Hannah never would have had Samuel trained under the priest, Eli, and Samuel may not have been the leader God used to guide Israel.
Elijah. If there were no drought, Elijah would not have seen God’s provision at the Brook Cherith.
Ruth. If Ruth’s trials did not occur, she would not have been married to Boaz and been part of the lineage that God used to bring Jesus into this world.
Paul. If Paul had not been shipwrecked on the island of Melita, the island leader’s father would not have been healed by Paul’s prayers. Also, if Paul were not imprisoned in Rome, many Romans would not have been saved.
Jesus. If Jesus did not die the horrible death He did, none of us would have the opportunity to go to heaven!

Every person on this earth will or has gone through difficult times. Being a Christian does not exempt one from facing hardships. Sometimes tribulations are brought on by our wrong decisions or lustful desires. Many times, especially for a Christian, the testing times may be used to get us in a place God wants us, so that He can get the glory and use us in a way He desires.

All the time difficult situations are opportunities to let go, and rely on the Lord to help one through an “impossible” time. Those times are never a time to shake a fist at God, and blame Him for all that seems “bad”. Those times may be the times God intends to change one’s direction in life and use it for His glory!

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28

This lesson was featured in The Bible View #390.