Desert Formation

 

Scripture

Exodus 3:1–2 (NIV)

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

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Observation

In Exodus 2, Moses believed he was doing the right thing.

He saw an Egyptian slave master beating a Hebrew and intervened — violently. Moses acted out of a sense of justice. Stephen later tells us that Moses thought his people would recognize that God was using him to rescue them (Acts 7:25). Moses wasn’t indifferent to suffering; he wanted to help.

But his attempt at justice cost him everything.

Instead of becoming a deliverer, Moses became a fugitive. He fled Egypt and ended up in Midian, where he took on a job that Egyptians despised most: a shepherd. Earlier in Genesis, we learn that shepherds were considered the lowest of professions in Egyptian culture (Genesis 46:34). Moses went from palace to pasture, from prince to nobody.

And it was there — not in Pharaoh’s court — that God met him.

God didn’t speak to Moses when he had power, education, and influence. God spoke when Moses was tending sheep in obscurity, far from wealth, recognition, and control. The desert stripped Moses of confidence in himself so he could learn dependence on God.

This pattern repeats throughout Scripture. God forms people in the wilderness before He uses them:

• Hagar meets God in the wilderness.
  
  

• Jacob is renamed after wrestling alone.
  
  

• Elijah hears God in a whisper after fleeing into isolation.
  
  

• Jesus is led into the desert before beginning His ministry.
  
  

• Paul disappears into Arabia before preaching Christ boldly.
  
  

The desert is not a punishment — it is preparation.

Jesus echoes this truth when He says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Wealth and security are not sinful, but they can quietly convince us we don’t need God. Like Moses in the palace, we can mistake good intentions and self-sufficiency for obedience.

Moses didn’t become a deliverer in Egypt.
He became one in Midian.

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Application

It’s tempting to think God will meet us most clearly when life feels stable — when we are secure financially, confident in our work, and respected by others. But often, those “palace” seasons are the very ones that make us least attentive to God.

The desert slows us down.
It removes distractions.
It exposes what we rely on when comfort is gone.

If you find yourself in a desert season — feeling unseen, uncertain, or stripped of what once defined you — it may not be a sign of God’s absence. It may be evidence of God’s formation.

Ask yourself:

• Where am I relying on my own strength instead of waiting on God?
  
  

• What distractions might be keeping me from listening?
  
  

• What might God be shaping in me during this season?
  
  

God doesn’t rush formation. He prepares us quietly, patiently, and often far from applause.

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Prayer

God,
When I find myself in seasons of waiting, obscurity, or loss, help me not to assume You are distant. Teach me to listen in the quiet places and trust You when I feel stripped of control. Shape my heart in the desert so I am ready for whatever You call me to next. Help me rely on You, not my own strength, and remind me that Your presence is often clearest when everything else falls silent.
Amen.