"Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by." Isaiah 26:20
As a self-proclaimed introvert, isolation has never been a bad word to me. In my opinion, there is nothing better than locking your doors to the outside world and spending time with Jesus, but let's face it, the circumstances under why we are in isolation, with this COVID-19 epidemic, may not be the greatest, but that doesn't mean God can not or will not use it. Recently, God prompted me to study one of my favorite men in the Bible, Moses, and look at how many times in his life he had been isolated. So I did just that.
It begin with his birth. In Exodus 1 and 2, we see that Moses was born in a time when Israel was enslaved by the Egyptians. Because the King of Egypt feared the Israelites would soon outnumber and overpower them, he ordered the midwives to kill every newborn male child. Moses' mother hid him as long as she could without being caught but eventually had to find another way to keep him alive. She placed him in a basinet and sent him floating down the river sending her daughter to keep an eye on him until he was safely retrieved by Pharaoh's daughter. This may not seem like isolation to most but Moses was separated from his mother, his family and his culture.
As we continue in chapter 2 of Exodus, we read about the second time Moses faced isolation. After watching an Egyptian beat and mistreat a slave, Moses killed the Egyptian. The next day, he tried to break up an argument between two other men who revealed they had knowledge of the murder Moses committed. In fear, Moses fled. Here again, we find Moses isolated from his adopted family, his friends and the culture he grew up in. Now sometimes when I read the Bible, I tend to think things happen as fast as I read them but let's take into account that Midian was over 6,000 miles away from Egypt and Moses traveled by foot. This was not a twenty minute trip to the store nor was it even a twenty hour flight overseas. This was months, maybe even years, alone walking in the desert sun before he finds a home in Midian.
It doesn't end there. In chapter 3, Moses was alone tending to the sheep when an Angel of the Lord appeared from a burning bush. It is here that God gives him the assignment of confronting Pharaoh and commanding him to free Israel. God waited until Moses was by himself and attentive before He shared His will. When we skip over to Chapter 19 verse 3, we see that Moses isolated himself, climb the mountain and went "up to God," and again, in verse 20.
As I continued to read about Moses, something stuck out to me. His circumstances prior to isolation were not always the greatest but they resulted in greatness.
Pharaoh commanded newborn males to be killed, Moses' mother sent him down a river to save him and he was raised by the royal family, learning royal customs and leadership skills.
Moses murdered an Egyptian causing him to flee Egypt to a land where God met him and spoke to him from a burning bush.
After the Israelites were freed, they complained about living in the desert, God spoke to Moses multiple times on the mountaintop giving him instructions, commandments and directions to follow.
Exodus 33, Moses separated himself from the people after he returned from more alone time with God only to find this people worshiping a golden calf. Verse 7 says, "he took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the meeting place. This became known as the tabernacle.
Do you see what I'm seeing here? I mean, these are A FEW of the times that Moses was isolated. Each time birthed out of grave circumstances but each time gave birth to something greater.
As many of us are facing some of the toughest moments of their lives right now with the COVID-19 epidemic, I believe that God still wants to be a part of your situation. He still wants you to have faith. He still wants you to trust Him. I know this is easier said than done and it is not said without empathy and compassion. I have family and friends with COVID-19 and know of few who died as a result. I'm not saying let's have a party and pretend it's not happening. What I do want you to consider is what if this time of isolation is a precursor to God elevating you? What if God wants to use this epidemic as a way of getting your attention like the burning bush, so that God could give you your next assignment? What if this is the place where God is calling you out to prepare you to set captives free? Think about it... God never does anything at face value. There's always a deeper meaning, a greater plan, a purpose. He's not sitting on His throne, bored, saying, "how can I mess with them today?" I believe that there's more to it than just sitting at home, with our families, working out or Netflix and chill. There's way more to this thing. I encourage you to take this time and seek God like never before because something GREATER IS COMING especially for those who chase after Him in this season. New assignments, new strategies and plans, new businesses. new outlook, elevated faith, boldness... It's coming faster than you think! There is more than what we see. #GetReady #50days