When God Breaks People

Daily Devotional – Sunday, May 21, 2023
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
Acts 7:22 (NKJV)

Biblical Moses is a classic example of how God breaks people when he wants to use them for divine purposes. At the tender age of three months, baby Moses escaped death, slavery and poverty when Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him.

Learned in all Wisdom

From that moment, Moses assumed a life of privilege as one of the possible heirs to the Egyptian throne. According to the first Christian martyr, Stephen, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” (Acts 7:22). God, too, approved of this curriculum but for other reasons.

At forty years of age, Moses must have been ripe for the throne, but he blundered. He killed an Egyptian guard in the process of defending a helpless Hebrew. To save his own life, Moses escaped into the wilderness. There his life changes drastically.

Forty Years of Divine Humbling

From a man mighty in words and deeds (Acts 7:22), Moses became a stammerer. Here is the excuses He gave God, when asked to go to Egypt to rescue his people from bondage: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10).

For forty years, God has been breaking Moses, emptying Him of Egyptian pride and self-sufficiency. The eloquence and confidence Moses had acquired in the universities of Egypt was gone. Now that he felt insufficient, God was ready to use Him on the important mission of leading the children of Jacob out of Egypt.

Surrendering to God

What then was the importance of the military, science, linguistic and philosophical education Moses had received in his earlier years? You only need to assess his leadership skills as he led the Israelites to the Promised Land, his wise decisions and directives and his incisive writings, to realize his education was not in vain.

When God wants to prepare a person for exceptional assignments, he brings that person to a point of surrender. The moment we feel broken and inadequate, God sets in and uses our knowledge, skills and experiences to elevate us to positions of power, influence and privilege to the glory of His name.

When God Breaks People

God is still breaking men and women today. He still allows future leaders to suffer and lack because He has exceptional assignments for them ahead. God still embarrasses people by dragging them from palaces to deserts and sheep pens, for them to learn to trust less in themselves and more in His goodness and wisdom.

Today, if you are frustrated with inexplicable delays and failures in your life, it is possible God is in the process of breaking you to prepare you for an important assignment. Submit yourself to God and let Him fashion you into a chosen vessel for His divine purpose. When God brakes people, great and productive tasks and a blessed future awaits.

Prayer
Dear God, break me; humble me, and make me into the person and leader You created me to be.