The suffering of the Hebrew people must have entered Moses’ consciousness because he made the decision to leave the protection and comfort of Pharaoh’s palace to see what was going on for himself. But it was only from outside the palace gates, out on the streets, that the captivity of his people truly broke his heart. Here is where he began to feel that firestorm within himself.
If we are going discern God’s heart within us, we need to engage with a suffering world. Quite simply, we need to get out more! However, there is a caveat. If we expose ourselves to all that is broken in the world but neglect to view the brokenness from God’s perspective — which promises that everything is in the process of being restored — then I believe that we could be paralyzed by the immensity of global injustice.
For William Wilberforce, the pathway to abolition was blocked by vested interests, parliamentary filibustering, entrenched bigotry, international politics, slave unrest, his own poor health, and political fear. He could have been sucked into an impossible downward spiral of despair. Instead, through prayer and the community of God’s people, Wilberforce entered a life viewed from God’s perspective. Here is where our heads are lifted and our perspective shifts from that which our eyes can see to that which God is telling us is true. And in this reality, that which is enslaved can still be set free, what is broken can be mended, what is sick can be healed, what is hated can be loved, what is stained can still be made clean and what is wrong can be made right.
There is also another reason why we need to hold on to God’s perspective. Exodus tells us that Moses left the palace, “…after [he] had grown up.” So, was this when Moses was all emotionally, spiritually and physically healed up? No, this is a 40-year-old man with a stammer, something of a superiority complex, and a murderously violent temper. If serving God is only for those who are the emotionally, spiritually and physically fully healed and whole people, then you can count me out. Wilberforce was dogged by appalling health and, because of chronic pain, was mildly addicted to opium (commonly used as a painkiller in those days). It was, however, in walking out their calling that Moses and Wilberforce were shaped and matured as Godly men. The day Moses was confronted with a burning bush, God instructed Moses to take off his shoes. Why? Because the ground was holy. This is an extraordinary visual demonstration — clearly God did not need a beautiful bush, a highly-educated bush, a hugely successful bush or even an extremely pious bush. The important thing here is not the bush but that it was God who was in the bush! It is as if God was saying to Moses, “I am going to use you, but it will not be you doing something for Me but Me doing something through you.” Moses would be the vessel through which God would work. And emotionally, physically and spiritually, we are healed as we go.
So, what firestorm around injustice might the Lord have set in your heart? I wonder if we can become much too religious about that question. Is it possible that the very thing that stirs your heart as you read the newspaper or watch TV, or as you drive through your community and say under your breath “somebody needs to do something about that…) might be exactly what the Lord is saying to you?
A man who, as a baby, was floated down a river in a basket as part of a wild and crazy plan to save his life, grew up to lead a whole nation out of slavery. A village just outside of London called Clapham, hosted a community of friends that brought down the global slave trade and eventually outlawed slavery. I guess when you look at the overwhelming odds that were against Moses and Wilberforce you would have to conclude that God was with them.
If you knew that God had planted His divine firestorm within you, if you knew that God was with you, promised faithfully to work through you and had set in place people who shared your passion, would it make a difference to what you did next?