ARTICLES

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

Before Moses led Israel out of Egypt, he spent forty years in a very different setting. Once a prince, he became a shepherd in the wilderness. Those years among the rocky hills and harsh heat of the desert were not wasted; they were God’s classroom.

In that lonely and demanding place, Moses learned dependence. The shepherd’s life required endurance, patience, and care for the flock’s every need. It was here that God shaped his heart, preparing him to lead people rather than sheep.

The desert is often where God teaches His people the deepest and hardest lessons. In its silence, we are stripped of self-reliance and reminded that we cannot survive alone. There, humility takes root. The same was true for Moses. By the time God called him to lead, he had learned to listen, to serve, and to rely on God for strength.

In our culture, we often prize independence and self-sufficiency. Yet God calls us to humility and dependence on Him and on others. The wilderness seasons of life remind us that strength does not come from standing alone but from walking closely with the Lord who sustains us.

When we find ourselves in our own desert seasons, we often want to escape as quickly as possible. Yet those very seasons are where God does His most transforming work. The dryness and stillness are not punishment but preparation. They train our hearts to trust God’s provision one day at a time, just as the Israelites learned to depend on manna in the wilderness.

Like Moses, we are shaped in hidden places long before we are called to visible ones. The quiet years in the desert are not wasted years; they are refining years. God uses them to teach us humility, endurance, and faith that will stand when the journey ahead grows difficult.

When the desert feels endless, remember that God is still at work. Every test, every delay, and every dry place has purpose in His plan. The same God who met Moses in the wilderness meets us there too, not with grandeur but with grace. The desert becomes holy ground when we recognize that God is present in it.

If you are currently in a place of waiting or wondering, take heart. The wilderness is not the end of your story. It is the beginning of something new that God is preparing in you and through you. What He shapes in silence will one day speak of His faithfulness to all who see your life.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for the lessons You teach in the wilderness moments of my life. Help me to rely on You completely and to walk humbly in every season. Amen.