I haven’t written a Peace in the Storm message in a while, mainly because I haven’t really known what to write. But today, I found something that I thought was worthy of sharing — and I am truly sharing, because this message comes courtesy of best-selling author Max Lucado.

I just picked up one of Max’s older books, When God Whispers Your Name, off our bookshelf this morning. He concludes chapter one with the story of one of the most popular people in the Bible: Moses. The lesson is nothing new, but it never gets old. I’ll paraphrase Max’s paraphrase here:

Moses was an Israelite reared in an Egyptian palace. While other Israelites were slaves to Egypt, Moses had adopted nobility. He ate at the royal table and was educated in the finest schools.

Moses saw the injustices upon his people, and one day when he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he killed the Egyptian. Thinking he had done something great, he was surprised when on the next day, the Hebrew asked Moses, "Will you kill me, too?" rather than expressing gratitude.

As a result, Moses fled Egypt and hid in the wilderness. As Max writes, Moses went from "the Ivy League to the cotton patch," or from "swinging a golf club to digging a ditch." Moses became a sheep herder, and apparently resigned himself to spending the rest of his life in the hills. God had another plan, though. He had tabbed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

When Moses got the call at the burning bush that day, it was quite a surprise to him as it would have been to anyone. Why would God want to use the 80-year-old Moses when he could have used the 40-year-old Moses all those years ago? The young Moses was brash, confident, educated, strong… he had instant access to Pharaoh’s inner circle. Wasn’t he in the perfect position to lead an exodus?

Look at the 80-year-old Moses. Old. Tired. Smells like sheep. Speaks like a foreigner. How could this man persuade the Pharaoh? What would make him better than the young guy he once was?

Well, the old Moses knew the way of the desert, having spent so many years there himself. He knew the name of every snake and the location of every watering hole. Important information for a man charged would leading thousands of Hebrews in the wilderness, don’t you think? Plus, Moses now had his own family, so maybe he could better understand the families he would be leading for the next 40 years.

The rest of the story is history and God proved, once again, that He knows what He’s doing.

Do you ever feel like you may be wandering in the wilderness of life? Do you ever feel like you’re not exactly where you want to be? Do you ever have that resigned feeling of, "Oh well, I guess this is my life"? Wait! God is not finished with you yet!

Remember Philippians 1:6 which says "…God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until
it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." (New Living Translation)

Do you know what that means? There is a good work going on in your life right now! That means every moment of your life, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, has a purpose. In our world today, it’s only those years when Moses was leading the people out of Egypt that would have made the front page news. We would have probably never heard about those those 40 previous years he spent being "seasoned" in the wilderness, when in reality they may have been the most important.

For whatever reason, we’re always looking for those "front page" moments in our lives. Anything less seems boring. Not to God, though. Every second Moses spent in the wilderness, God knew where he was. His eye was always on him. And His eye is on you right now.

You may feel like you’re in the wilderness, and you may be right. It’s okay. Just take a deep breath. Live this moment to its fullest, because you never know what God may be working in your life. In due time, when you’re ready, God will let you in on His plan. You don’t have to worry about that.

He’s not finished with you yet!