Streams in the Desert May 17 Season of Waiting "And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness…an angel of the Lord...saying....now come, I will send thee into Egypt" (Acts 7:30-34).
Today's Scripture & Insight: Acts 7:22-25 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. Acts 7:29-34 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[a] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.
Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith's forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.
So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work. --Days of Heaven upon Earth
Today’s Hymns: In God’s Perfect Time
Sometimes We Wait
Scriptures to Respond Psalm 62:5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Reflection: Have you allowed yourself to be still so that you may seek God? Are you willing to come to a pause amid your busy work so that you may have your strength renewed for moving further on for God?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am willing to bow down completely before you. Help me to learn the lesson of waiting so that I can have my strength renewed and live for you.
Wong Wai Tung (Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) & Sam Chow (Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) Prayer translated by Jenny Hung
