Latest / PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES / FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 2 The Wilderness Before the Deliverance

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FORGED FOR YOUR FUTURE ASSIGNMENT | Episode 2 The Wilderness Before the Deliverance · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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  Welcome to Pamoja Podcast, the place where stronger
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  lives are built. Faith is strengthened, hearts
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  are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are
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  shaped through ordinary conversations that become
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  extraordinary encounters with God's truth. One
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  conversation, one story, one revelation at a
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  time. I'm your host, Barry Mwamba. In our previous
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  conversation, we began exploring one of the most
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  powerful patterns found throughout scripture.
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  Before Joseph entered the palace, he passed through
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  the pit, slavery, false accusation, and prison.
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  Before David sat upon the throne, he returned
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  to the sheep, faced the lion and the bear, confronted
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  Goliath, endured Saul's jealousy, and spent years
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  hiding in caves. Their stories revealed a truth
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  that cannot be ignored. God does not merely prepare
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  assignments for people. He prepares people for
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  assignments. Joseph was not sent directly from
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  the dream to the throne, because although the
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  assignment had already been determined, the man
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  who would carry it was still being formed. David
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  was not taken directly from Samuel's anointing
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  to Israel's palace, because although the oil
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  had already been poured, the heart of the king
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  was still being forged. The promise may be spoken
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  in a moment, but preparation often unfolds through
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  a process. The calling may be revealed quickly,
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  but the character required to carry it is usually
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  developed slowly. And this is where many believers
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  become discouraged. We assume that once God has
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  spoken, everything should begin moving immediately.
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  We believe the promise should remove the process.
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  We believe the anointing should eliminate the
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  waiting. We believe the calling should protect
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  us from the wilderness. But throughout scripture,
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  the opposite frequently happens. The promise
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  does not always remove the process. Sometimes
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  the promise begins it. The anointing does not
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  always prevent the wilderness. Sometimes it leads
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  us directly into it. The calling does not mean
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  that preparation has ended. Sometimes the calling
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  is the announcement that preparation is about
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  to begin. Joseph received the dream before the
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  pit. David received the oil before the cave,
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  and Moses carried the burden of a deliverer long
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  before he was ready to stand before Pharaoh.
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  His story begins in danger. A decree had been
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  issued against the Hebrew sons. Yet God preserved
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  Moses before Moses could even understand that
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  he needed preservation. His mother placed him
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  inside a basket and released him upon the Nile.
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  But what appeared to be an act of desperation
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  became the road into Pharaoh's own household.
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  The river that should have carried Moses toward
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  death carried him toward preparation. The palace
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  of the oppressor became the school of the future
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  deliverer. Moses was raised among royalty. He
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  learned the culture of Egypt. He understood its
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  systems, its authority, its language, and its
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  power. He was educated in the very environment
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  he would later confront. Nothing was wasted.
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  Even Pharaoh's palace was part of the preparation.
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  But the palace alone could not produce the man
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  God needed. Egypt could educate Moses, but it
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  could not empty him. It could teach him leadership,
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  but it could not teach him dependence upon God.
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  It could give him knowledge, but it could not
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  give him surrender. It could place authority
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  around him, but it could not establish God's
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  authority within him. And so, before Moses could
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  return to Egypt as a deliverer, he had to leave
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  Egypt as a fugitive. There is a moment in Moses'
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  life that reveals how easily a genuine burden
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  can move ahead of divine preparation. Moses saw
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  an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Something rose
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  within him. He recognized injustice. He identified
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  with the suffering of his people. He wanted to
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  intervene. The desire to deliver was already
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  present, but the deliverer was not yet ready.
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  Moses looked in both directions, saw no one.
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  killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
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  His concern may have been sincere, but his method
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  was still shaped by human strength. He possessed
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  the burden of the assignment, but he had not
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  yet learned how the assignment must be carried.
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  That is a dangerous stage in the life of anyone
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  called by God. You can recognize what God wants
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  to accomplish while still being unprepared for
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  how he intends to accomplish it. You can carry
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  a genuine burden and still act prematurely. You
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  can correctly identify the problem while responding
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  through the wrong spirit. You can know what must
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  change while lacking the maturity, patience,
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  wisdom, and dependence required to become God's
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  instrument of change. Moses attempted to deliver
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  one man through his own strength, but God intended
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  to deliver an entire nation through his power.
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  Moses buried one Egyptian in the sand, but God
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  intended to bury Pharaoh's army beneath the sea.
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  Moses believed his hands were the answer. God
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  needed to teach him that the answer would be
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  God's hand working through him. The assignment
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  was not wrong. The timing was premature. The
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  burden was not false. The servant was unfinished.
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  And when Pharaoh learned what Moses had done,
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  Moses fled. In one moment, the prince became
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  a fugitive. The palace disappeared behind him.
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  The influence was gone. The recognition was gone.
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  The position was gone. The future he may have
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  imagined for himself appeared to collapse. Then
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  came Midian. No palace, no public platform, no
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  visible movement toward Israel's deliverance,
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  only wilderness, sheep, silence. Ordinary days
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  repeated for 40 years. To human eyes, Moses'
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  life had moved backward, but in the hands of
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  God, he had entered the forge. We often speak
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  about the wilderness as though nothing happens
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  there. We describe it as an empty season, a silent
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  season, a season where life has stopped, but
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  the wilderness is never empty when God is present.
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  What appears empty of opportunity may be filled
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  with preparation. What appears empty of recognition
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  may be filled with transformation. What appears
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  empty of progress may be the very place where
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  God is performing His deepest work. Moses entered
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  Midian carrying the identity of an Egyptian prince,
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  but he would leave carrying the heart of a shepherd.
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  For 40 years, the man raised in a palace learned
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  to guide sheep through difficult terrain. He
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  learned patience. He learned attentiveness. He
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  learned how to search for those that wandered.
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  He learned how to lead without applause. He learned
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  how to protect what had been placed in his care.
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  He learned to survive in the very wilderness
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  through which he would one day lead an entire
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  nation. The assignment was already hidden inside
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  the ordinary work. Every path Moses walked with
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  sheep was preparing him to walk with Israel.
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  Every dry place he learned to navigate was preparing
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  him for the desert ahead. Every vulnerable animal
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  entrusted to his care was teaching him something
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  about leading frightened, stubborn, dependent
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  people. Moses probably believed he was merely
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  tending the flock of his father -in -law. God
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  knew he was training the shepherd of Israel.
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  Nothing was wasted. not Egypt, not failure, not
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  exile, not Midian, not one year of those forty
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  years. The wilderness did not cancel the calling.
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  It changed the man who would carry it. And perhaps
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  that is one of the hardest truths for us to accept.
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  We want God to change our circumstances because
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  we assume our circumstances are preventing the
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  assignment. But sometimes the circumstances are
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  preparing us for it. We pray to leave the wilderness
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  while God is using the wilderness to remove what
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  cannot enter our future. Moses entered the desert
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  believing he could deliver through strength.
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  He left knowing that without God he could do
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  nothing. He entered confident in his ability.
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  He left conscious of his weakness. He entered
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  ready to move without being sent. He left unwilling
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  to move unless God went with him. That transformation
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  was not weakness, it was readiness. The Moses
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  who killed an Egyptian did not yet understand
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  how God delivers. The Moses who stood before
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  the burning bush had finally learned enough to
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  say, who am I? Forty years earlier, Moses acted
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  as though he knew exactly who he was. Forty years
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  later, He stood before God, asking who he was.
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  And only then did God reveal the answer. The
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  assignment would not depend upon Moses knowing
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  who Moses was. It would depend upon Moses knowing
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  who God is. When Moses asked, who am I that I
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  should go to Pharaoh, God did not respond by
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  enlarging Moses' self -image. God said, I will
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  be with you. That was the qualification, not
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  the palace. not his education, not his natural
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  strength, not his former position, the presence
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  of God. The wilderness had not made Moses useless,
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  it had made him dependent, and dependence upon
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  God was the strength the assignment required.
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  Joseph teaches us that God can use a prison to
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  prepare a ruler. David teaches us that God can
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  use caves to prepare a king. Moses teaches us
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  that God can use a wilderness to prepare a deliverer.
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  In our next part, we will remain with Moses because
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  the burning bush was not simply the moment when
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  he received an assignment. It was the moment
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  when everything God had been forming in secret
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  was summoned into purpose. The man who once moved
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  before God sent him had now become so conscious
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  of his limitations that he struggled to move
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  when God called him. And there, between human
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  confidence and human inadequacy, Moses would
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  discover the only foundation upon which a divine
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  assignment can safely rest. I will be with you.
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  There is something about Moses' story. that I
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  completely missed for many years. Maybe you've
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  read this passage dozens of times. Maybe you've
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  even heard sermons about the burning bush. But
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  let me ask you a question. Was the burning bush
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  really the beginning of Moses' assignment? Think
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  about it for a moment. Most of us naturally answer,
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  of course. That was the day God called Moses.
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  That was the day everything started. But was
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  it really? Was that simply the day God revealed
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  what he had been preparing for 40 years? I think
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  there is a huge difference. Because if the assignment
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  really began at the burning bush, then what were
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  the previous 40 years? Were they wasted? Were
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  they simply years of delay? Did Moses somehow
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  lose 40 years of his life? I don't think so.
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  In fact, I think those 40 years, Where the assignment
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  before the assignment Have you ever noticed?
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  What Moses was doing when God spoke to him? Nothing
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  extraordinary He wasn't preaching. He wasn't
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  performing miracles He wasn't standing before
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  Pharaoh He wasn't leading Israel He wasn't even
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  praying on top of a mountain. He was simply taking
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  care of sheep Just another ordinary day Another
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  ordinary morning. Another ordinary walk through
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  the wilderness. Then suddenly, he noticed something
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  unusual. A bush was burning, but it wasn't being
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  consumed. I love what Moses does next. The Bible
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  says, I will turn aside and see this great sight.
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  He stopped. He paid attention. He didn't keep
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  walking. And sometimes, I wonder how many burning
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  bushes People walk past because they are too
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  busy to stop and notice what God is doing. Then
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  God called, Moses, Moses, can you imagine hearing
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  your name spoken by God himself? And Moses answered,
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  here I am. Now watch this carefully. God doesn't
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  begin by giving Moses instructions. He first
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  says, take off your sandals. Why? Because before
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  discussing the assignment, God wanted Moses to
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  recognize whose presence he had entered. Everything
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  begins with God's presence, everything. Then
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  God begins speaking about Israel. I have seen
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  their suffering. I have heard their cry. I know
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  their pain. I have come down to deliver them.
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  I love those words. Notice, God does not say
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  Moses. you are going to deliver Israel. No, God
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  says, I have come down. In other words, the assignment
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  was never really about Moses. It was always about
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  God. Moses would simply become the instrument
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  through whom God would work. That changes everything
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  because sometimes we place so much pressure on
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  ourselves. We think everything depends on us,
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  our strength, our wisdom. our ability, our experience.
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  But God reminds Moses from the very beginning,
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  this isn't your deliverance, this is mine. Then
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  comes one of the most honest moments in all of
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  scripture. Moses asks, who am I? I smile every
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  time I read that question because 40 years earlier,
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  Moses wasn't asking, who am I? 40 years earlier,
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  he believed he already knew. He thought he was
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  ready. He acted before God sent him. He tried
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  to accomplish God's purpose using human strength.
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  But now the wilderness had changed him. The palace
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  produced confidence. The wilderness produced
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  humility. The palace taught him how to rule.
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  The wilderness taught him how to depend. The
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  palace made him a prince. The wilderness made
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  him a servant. And I honestly think God was waiting
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  for that question because now Moses was finally
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  ready to hear God's answer But notice God doesn't
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  really answer Moses's question. He doesn't say
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  Moses. Let me tell you how gifted you are He
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  doesn't say Moses remember your education He
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  doesn't say Moses remember you grew up in Pharaoh's
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  palace instead God answers with something far
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  greater. He says I will be with you Almost as
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  if God were saying Moses you're asking the wrong
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  question The question isn't who are you the question
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  is? Who is with you? That is the difference.
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  That is why the burning bush Was never the beginning
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  it was simply the moment when God unveiled everything
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  he had been quietly doing for 40 years. Moses
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  thought he had been taking care of sheep. God
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  had been preparing the shepherd of a nation.
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  Nothing had been wasted. Not Egypt, not the failure,
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  not Midian, not the wilderness, not one single
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  day. As I continue reading the Bible, I cannot
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  help but notice that God does not always prepare
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  his servants through prisons, caves, or wildernesses.
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  Sometimes he prepares them simply by placing
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  them exactly where they need to be, long before
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  they understand why they are there. That is what
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  makes Esther's story so remarkable, because unlike
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  Joseph, she was not thrown into prison. Unlike
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  David, She was not hiding in caves. Unlike Moses,
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  she did not spend 40 years in the wilderness.
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  Yet God was preparing her just as intentionally
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  as He prepared each of them. When we first meet
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  Esther, nothing about her life suggests that
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  she will one day influence the destiny of an
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  entire nation. She is a young Jewish woman living
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  in exile. An orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai,
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  far away from the promised land, living under
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  the authority of a foreign empire. If someone
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  had looked at her circumstances, they would never
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  have concluded that she was standing at the entrance
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  of one of the greatest assignments recorded in
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  scripture. That is often how God works. He does
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  not always reveal the assignment while he is
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  preparing the servant. More often than not, he
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  allows the servant to live through ordinary days,
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  ordinary responsibilities, and ordinary circumstances
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  without realizing that every one of those moments
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  is quietly moving them toward an extraordinary
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  purpose. I often wonder whether Esther ever asked
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  herself the same questions we ask today. Why
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  did I lose my parents? Why am I living in Persia
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  instead of Jerusalem? Why did I find favor with
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  the King? Why am I here? None of those questions
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  probably had immediate answers. Each event appeared
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  disconnected from the others, just another chapter
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  in a life she was trying to live faithfully.
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  Then everything changed. Haman's decree was issued.
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  And in a single moment Esther discovered that
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  the palace where she had been living was no longer
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  simply a palace. It had become the place from
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  which God intended to preserve his covenant people.
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  That is an incredible thought. The crisis did
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  not create Esther's assignment. The crisis simply
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  revealed the assignment that God had been preparing
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  long before Haman ever appeared. That changes
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  the way we read one of the most quoted verses
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  in the entire book. Mordecai tells Esther, and
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  who knows whether you have come to the kingdom
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  for such a time as this? For many years, I read
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  those words as if Mordecai was trying to encourage
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  Esther to become courageous. Now I hear something
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  much deeper. It is almost as though he is saying,
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  Esther, don't you see? God has been preparing
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  this moment long before either of us understood
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  it. Becoming queen was never the assignment.
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  It was the preparation for the assignment. That
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  one sentence completely changes the story. Esther
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  thought she had received a position, but God
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  had entrusted her with a purpose. She thought
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  she had found favor before a king. but God had
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  been positioning her to stand in the gap for
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  an entire nation. She thought she was simply
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  living her life, while heaven had already woven
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  every chapter together into a story she could
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  not yet see. Doesn't that sound familiar? Joseph
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  did not understand why he was in prison until
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  years later. David did not understand why God
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  allowed the caves until he became king. Moses
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  did not understand why forty years disappeared
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  into the wilderness until he stood before the
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  burning bush. And Esther did not understand why
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  she had become queen until the day her people
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  stood on the edge of destruction. The pattern
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  is always the same. God rarely explains his preparation
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  while we are living through it. More often, He
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  allows us to discover its purpose only when the
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  assignment finally comes into view. Perhaps that
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  is why so many of us become discouraged during
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  seasons that appear ordinary. We assume nothing
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  important is happening because nothing dramatic
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  is taking place. We believe God is silent because
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  our circumstances seem unchanged, yet scripture
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  keeps reminding us that some of God's greatest
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  work happens quietly, long before anyone recognizes
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  it. What if your present season is more significant
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  than you realize? What if the place where you
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  are serving today, the people you are meeting,
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  the experiences you are living through, and even
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  the disappointments you have carried? are not
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  isolated events, but part of God's preparation
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  for an assignment you cannot yet see. Joseph
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  discovered it. David discovered it. Moses discovered
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  it. Esther discovered it. And perhaps one day
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  you will look back over your own life and realize
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  that what seemed like disconnected chapters were
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  actually being written by the same faithful author
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  all along. As we bring this conversation to a
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  close, one truth continues to echo throughout
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  the pages of scripture. Joseph's prison, David's
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  caves, Moses' wilderness, and Esther's palace
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  were all different places. Yet the same God was
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  accomplishing the same purpose. He was forging
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  his servants for their future assignment. But
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  our journey is far from over, because there is
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  another young man. whose story reveals an entirely
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  different dimension of God's preparation. Unlike
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  Joseph, he was not sold into slavery. Unlike
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  David, he did not flee into caves. Unlike Moses,
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  he did not spend 40 years in the wilderness.
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  Unlike Esther, he did not enter the palace through
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  favor. He arrived in Babylon as a captive. Everything
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  around him was designed to change his identity.
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  His homeland was taken. His language was challenged.
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  His education was redefined. Even his name was
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  changed. The world expected Babylon to transform
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  Daniel. Instead, God used Babylon to prepare
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  Daniel. Join me in our next conversation as we
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  discover one of the greatest lessons for every
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  believer living in today's world. Can God prepare
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  your future assignment while you are living in
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  a culture trying to redefine who you are. Because
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  sometimes the greatest forge is not a prison.
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  It is remaining faithful in Babylon.