April 28, 2016 | Identity

She gave birth to a son whom he [Moses] named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.” [Exodus 2:22 HCSB]
Recently I was blessed to teach through Exodus 2, a chapter in which Moses appears to be examining his early identity and the prior learning that prepared him for what God set aside for Moses to accomplish. It’s a moving set of stories with great application to the lives of each of God’s people.
Wonderfully, my mailbox the next day showed that my fellow students are taking Exodus 2 to heart. Here are a few of the notes that encouraged me to learn like Moses …
“As I was taking notes and thinking about Moses, I saw him as a person from so many nationalities and so many different parents. It made me smile thinking of how God had pieced his life together. And, although I am no Moses, I felt encouraged by the patchwork of places and parents in my own story.” – TG
“It is always interesting how things in life come up in succession. I woke up last night around 2:30 and was unable to sleep so I started to listen to an audio book of Marcus Aurelius’
Meditations. The start of the book was rather interesting. Aurelius begins chapter 1 by listing the things that he has learned from the people in his life. I was immediately reminded of Exodus 2.” – MM
“I always imagine this is the time when Moses wrote Psalm 90, which contains beautiful reminders like “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” (12)” – CS
Unlike poor, brilliant Marcus Aurelius – who was stuck with mere Stoicism – we have the opportunity to know YHWH as Moses did. Because of Messiah Jesus we can find our identity in our relationship with God, even here in this foreign land.
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