No Stranger to Isolation
/As New Testament believers and those coming from the ilk of a Fundamental Baptist line, we understand the structure and importance of the local church. The church is not a building but rather a called out assembly of believers that prioritize biblical fellowship through praise, prayer, and preaching! This is something that we take very seriously and rightly so. The Bible stresses the importance of this. So yes, we assemble out of obedience but also because we love each other and desire to be in fellowship. We are desperate people and see the power of corporate prayer because we serve a God that deserves extravagant praise. We believe that God communicates and gives direction to our lives through his word!
“We must learn to bring every thought into captivity”
But now we are being hindered from congregating due to the quarantine, which has put us at a loss. These times of isolation can cause struggles to surface that have been hidden like feelings of loneliness, anxious thoughts, and even bouts of depression. During these times, we don’t have the luxury of leaning on the spiritual crutches of our Sunday morning routine. Instead of fighting loneliness by surrounding ourselves with people, we must learn to be comforted by the presence of God, who is with us alway (Mat 28:20). We must learn to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and to allow the spirit of God to yield true joy despite our circumstances. Times like this force us to sit still, take a deep breath, to look God face-to-face, and examine the nature of our walks along with the intimacy of our relationship with him.
2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness temperance: against such there is no law.
C&YA, many of us have a unique opportunity due to the recent pandemic (I’m out of work for two weeks), and we can use this time to meet with the Lord like Moses did at Mount Sinai. The other option would be to use this time to veg out on entertainment and the lusts of our flesh. My prayer is that we will be spirit filled people desperate for direction in this season. We must take heed to the example of Moses who in a season of isolation received clear instruction and wisdom on how to move forward in faith.
“Moses was no stranger to seasons of isolation”
The book of Exodus introduces us to the person of Moses: an Israelite brought up in Pharaoh's house amidst a tumultuous period. At this time the nation of Israel was seen as a threat in the land of Egypt and forced into slavery. Along with this came a decree to kill all Hebrew male children at birth. Moses’s parents gave birth to him in secret and after three months built an ark for him and placed him in the river for Pharaoh’s daughter to discover. Moses became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and was raised in Pharaoh’s house. He grew up from birth acquainted with isolation. He was quite literally separated from his family but also suspended between two worlds. He was not viewed as an Israelite in the eye’s of the children of Israel and probably not viewed as an Egyptian amongst the royal elite. God used the isolation of his childhood for his salvation and education.
Upon slaying an Egyptian, Moses fled Egypt to the land of Midian where he became a shepherd. Needless to say that Moses would go on to spend a great deal of time alone, and God would use this time to temper him, fostering in him a meek and humble heart. By chapter three of Exodus God calls Moses to the work of freeing the nation of Israel out of captivity. Through signs and miracles, Moses led Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea and into the wilderness.
In this season, Moses was constantly surrounded by more people than he had ever had to deal with in his life, so one would think his lonely days were over. Although, Moses learned the loneliness of leadership. The people murmured, doubted, all while God used this season to create dependency on him and to see other leaders developed! Needless to say, Moses was no stranger to seasons of isolation. God used these times greatly in his life for growth and to make him the leader that God needed him to be. We must remember that God desires to use times of isolation in our lives to grow us as well.
By chapter twenty-four of Exodus the children of Israel are at Mount Sinai, where God has already shown the power of his mighty hand through miraculous plagues. He delivered them by parting the Red Sea and led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He supernaturally provided for them bread from heaven to sustain them and water from a rock. And in this place, in chapter twenty-four, God makes a covenant with his people; it is a season of great excitement and rejoicing for the children of Israel. In the midst of this, Moses is invited to the top of the mount to receive tables of stone, as well as a law and commandments that God wrote himself. Moses ascended the mount and was there for forty days and forty nights.
“...God spent personal time with Moses that was just for him”
During this time of separation and isolation, God wanted to communicate with Moses. This is huge! God exclusively wants our attention, as he desires to speak with us face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. This was not a transactional experience where Moses brought his ministry needs before the Lord; instead, it was a time of fellowship where there was no agenda or clock to keep track of time passing. In times like this God provides the practical wisdom and insights needed to move forward in ministry that we often seek in a transactional approach. But greater than that, he can dwell with us to a point of overflow, where every insight we gain isn’t gained solely to dish it out to those that we are ministering to. God desires to meet us in a way that is personal and to share insights with us that we can have just for ourselves to meditate on and to know him more intimately. God met with Moses for forty days and nights, and the only record we have of it are in seven chapters of instructions. While those seven chapters are rich, the rest of that conversation is not recorded, and we can see that God spent personal time with Moses that was just for him. We should seek time at Christ’s feet in the same manner.
In this time with the Lord, God outlined instructions for a tabernacle and priestly garments to be constructed. This was vital information that allowed God to dwell with men in the camp and for temple worship to be implemented. He pointed out men for Moses to promote into leadership who would be instrumental for ministry. This conversation provided great insight and vision as ministry was maturing. As we established earlier, God desires to use these seasons of isolation to minister to us personally, but he also desires to use them to make a clear vision for ministry moving forward.
Finally in Exodus 32, while still meeting with the Lord on the mount, God informs Moses that the people of Israel have been backsliding and have corrupted themselves through idolatry (breaking the first two commandments). The Lord shares his frustration with Moses and desires to consume the children of Israel and to start from scratch with Moses. Moses pleads on God’s behalf for Israel by reminding him of his reputation among other nations and of his promises in past generations. Through intercession, Moses was able to sway the hand of God to extend his longsuffering and mercy towards his people. In this season of fellowship, Moses was able to engage God by receiving his words, but God desired to hear Moses’ heart and was ready to bend his ear to the intercessions that Moses made.
“We have a choice to use this season as an opportunity”
We have a beautiful testimony through the life of Moses on how God can use seasons of isolation in our lives to grow us into the ministers he desires us to be. I fear that some of us will inevitably use this new found freedom to binge watch Netflix, to follow rabbit holes through social media and YouTube, to gorge ourselves with pizza and ice-cream, and entertain pet sins. While Moses was meeting with God, the people of Israel were offering up their gold to create a false idol to serve. They created a molten calf and then worshipped it, sacrificed unto it, and attributed the works of God unto it. We have a choice to use this season as an opportunity to rear up idols in our lives that rob the one true God of his worship or to retreat with the Lord through his word and prayer. God desires to use this season to minister to us, cast vision for us, and to bend his ear as we intercede in prayer. We can leave this time with our face shining like Moses or we can become disoriented and ashamed, having wasted the sweet opportunity of intimacy with our Savior.