Traveled to Midian Lately? By Mistake or On Purpose?

Do you remember where Moses fled after killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand?   (Don't have a clue what I am talking about?  Check out Exodus 2:11-23.)

"When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled 

from Pharoah and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well . . ."  Exodus 2:15  

Have you fled to Midian lately?  (By the way, Midian is just another name for the Wilderness.)  Was it for an all out blatant transgression?  (That's a sin that you've planned out and executed.) 

"But who can discern their own errors?  

Forgive my hidden faults.  

Keep your servant also from willful sins; 

may they not rule over me.  

Then I will be blameless, 

innocent of great transgression."  

Psalm 19:12-13

Perhaps you did not murder someone (I sure hope not!), but perhaps you did purposely stop in the grocery aisle and gossip with Bessie Mae about what Molly Sue told you that Carol Ann did on her date.  

Or perhaps you stirred up some good old dissension by telling Cindy Lou that Sandy Dee said her dress was the ugliest she'd ever seen, and Cindy Lou and Sandy Dee were upset with each other, and with you.  

Perhaps you didn't have the money for that perfect pair of pants you found at the mall, so you decided to hide them in your humongous purse that has the hidden zipper in the side.  You always keep it filled to the brim with stuff you don't need so that you can rid yourself of some of it in the dressing room to make room for a nice find.

Maybe, you didn't plan your sin.  Maybe you just sort of fell into it - like the pride I had over being a superior seamstress to my Novice Seamstress Daughter.  Or like the procrastination that resulted in the scorching of same Beautiful Daughter's favorite pair of pants.  (See earlier blog posts to find out what in the world I am talking about!)  

How long have you been there?  Moses spent 40 years in Midian.  Forty Years!  How long have you spent in Midian?  Moses was 40 years old when He left Egypt and 80 years old when He returned.  God used a burning bush to call Moses back to Egypt.  God had a major plan for Moses' life.

"When they sin against you - for there is no one who does not sin - and you 

become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, 

who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 

and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive,

and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, 

   'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 

and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of 

their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land 

you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen 

and the temple I have built for your Name; 

then from Heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, 

and uphold their cause.  And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; 

forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, 

and cause their captors to show them mercy; 

for they are your people and your inheritance, 

whom you brought out of Egypt, 

out of that iron-smelting furnace."  I Kings 8:46-51  

Do you hear God calling your name?  He is calling you to repent and turn to Him.  He has wonderful plans for you.  He longs for you to spend time with Him.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,

'plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,' declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

"But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; 

and you may be sure that your sin will find you out." 

 Numbers 32:23 (20-24 in context)