Have you ever read a novel which had a chapter which seemed to go on and on without a satisfactory resolution? The most enjoyable books - whether novels, biographies, histories or whatever, are those which utilise time and space well and leave the reader both satisfied with what he or she has been reading and keen to go on to the next chapter.
Our life is like a book consisting of chapters. Sometimes we can group these chapters into groups of chapters or parts. Moses' life consisted of three 40 year parts - Part 1 as a Prince of Egypt living in wealth and opulence. It ends with him discovering who he is and identifying with the oppressed slave people from which he sprang and concludes suddenly with a terrible choice - he kills an Egyptian task-master. Part 1 is well and truly over at that point.
In Part 2 he becomes an exile and undergoes a long personal trek across the desert in a kind of enactment of a similar journey he would have to make in the last part of his life. Part 2 is totally different from Part 1. From wealthy Prince and student of all the knowledge of Egypt, he becomes a poor, humble shepherd. He lives the rustic life and starts a family; but even more importantly he meets the living Elohim (God) and receives a call to go back to Chapter 1...but not as a Prince. This time it is as a Prophet.
Chapter 3 consists of the famous Exodus and another desert wandering that last a full 40 years. If the transition from Part 1 to Part 2 was hard enough, the transition from Part 2 to Part 3 would have been harder still, not because he was unprepared for desert life (he now knew all about it) but because he carried the burden of leadership for a whole nation. And there is nothing quite like political leadership to age a man fast and turn his hair white. Part 3 was no bucket of fun - it was a thankless task then but now, today, we can all say, 'Thank you, Moses, for being faithful'.
Some of the Parts and Chapters of our life are the result of bad choices we make, sometimes the result of bad choices others make for us. Irrespective of such choices, Yahweh equips us - if we choose to accept the equipping - to make each period of our life one of accomplishment for Him. We can be productive, bringing Yahweh glory, no matter under what circumstances we find ourselces in. Many make the mistake of shooting their own foot by refusing to do this. Instead they look back to their own personal 'golden age' in the past and regretting they weren't back there. However, living in the past paralyses the present and bankrups the future. Nothing good comes of dreaming of what has since gone by. And Moses would have achieved nothing if he had simply pined away for the Court of Egypt while in exile in Midian. he was realistic and wise to kmow that that was over permanently. Besides his heart had changed - he was now identifying with his own people, not their task-masters, even though outwatdly he still looked like an Egyptian and was so mistaken for one by Jethro's daughters.
That doesn't mean that there aren't things which don't have to be resolved from the past. If, for example, you have committed adultery and run off with someone else, abanding a spouse, that is something that has to be put right. You can never return to what was but you can go home and start anew. There are always new chapters to be written.
Towards the end of his life, when the miracles of parting seas and nationwide plagues were long since over, Moses didn't long for all of that again. He kept himself focussed on the here-and-now and what needed doing. In his old age his energy and vitality did not diminish (Dt.34:7) because he was constantly engaged in Yahweh's work. In his last years he focussed on tutoring his successor, Joshua. (Dt.31:1-8).
Whatever mistakes we may have made in the past - and most of these can't be undone - Yahweh does expect us to live contentedly in the present in the situation He has placed us. There are chapters in our life yet to be written in which we can learn to do things better. By being content in the present we learn the secret of being content for a lifetime, and all to Yahweh's glory.
A new chapter is starting in the world's history - arguably the last one - and everyone us going to have to adapt to that and learn to be productive in that for Yahweh. This is the 1930's all over again with the same mistakes being made, only worse. The former days of 'peace and liberty' are fading away and we are heading for terrible changes. Are you ready for them? And are you willing to maybe start a new chapter in your life and become useful to the Master under new conditions? The old rules are vanishing and a new kind of man and woman are now needed for the Kingdom.
Get ready.
