Warriors Arise: March 16, 2022
Exodus 2:11-15 (NKJV) Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
Moses escaped from Egypt because he was afraid what Pharaoh would do to him once he found out he had killed an Egyptian. Moses fled through the dessert. It would have taken him two or three weeks to travel the dessert. Scripture does not tell us if Moses took any provisions with him. Before he fled, he would have been better nourished than Patrick. Circumstances for both of them caused them to leave immediately. They both had someone chasing them. Moses had Pharaoh or at least the army he had trained in. Patrick had the men who served under his terrible master. He had seen what his master would do to the men who defied him. His master cut their heads off and displayed them on stakes around his property. Moses didn't know where he was going. There is nothing in Scripture that tells us God was leading him, but Patrick had a vision from God and knew there would be a ship he was to get on for his escape. Most likely, they were both on the verge of death. Both of them were hunted men. Moses about the age of 40 and Patrick, 22.
Would all their running be the end of them? Did they escape only to die by the men sent to hunt them down? Did they escape only to die by the wilderness they had to travel through. Both were on very different terrain. Moses fled into a desert while Patrick fled through rocky terrain and the forests of Ireland. One could have died from the heat, while the other could have frozen to death. Did they escape only to die?
Moses did a kind service to the shepherdesses by watering their flock. Their father, the Midianite priest, took Moses in, gave him a job and one of his daughters for a wife. Patrick was rejected by the captain at first, then after dropping to his knees to pray, he was hailed on board the cargo ship. His trials were not over.
In St. Patrick's telling in the Confessio, he almost died after his escape from slavery. After landing on the continent, the ship’s crew found itself wandering for weeks in a wilderness devoid of food and began to chastise Patrick for his piety. “What about this, Christian? You tell us that your God is great and all-powerful—why can’t you pray for us, since we’re in a bad state with hunger?” the starving sailors asked him.
“Turn in faith with all your hearts to the Lord my God, because nothing is impossible for him,” replied the young man who led them in a prayer that appeared to be immediately answered when a stampede of pigs crossed their path. Patrick had his first converts. (HISTORY)
These men were starving and Patrick gives them the Bread of Life and Living Water. As soon as they receive Jesus into their lives God provided pork! Does this blow your mind? Patrick is playing out different parts of Biblical history;
from being of a prominent family like Joseph and sold into slavery (Patrick being captured),
to shepherding forgotten like David,
to fleeing for his life like Moses,
to being aboard a ship like Paul and landing way off course,
to no food but God providing food for the multitudes like God did for Jesus.
Patrick was living out Biblical history, probably the very stories he heard his father tell. When we remember what God has done for someone else, the very testimony should ignite in us the hope to align our faith with the possiblieis of God regardless of the situation before us. We have the opportunity to apply what we have seen God has done and ask for Him to do it in our lives as well. His love abounds to each one of us throughout every generation.
When was the last time you were in a situation where you saw Biblical history repeat itself? When have you saw your situation align with what the witnesses in the Bible had to go through? Did your faith stir? Did you call out to God? Did you pray for God to intervene? Did you engage your faith with what You know God could do and would do for you?
What good are the testimonies of what God has done in someone else's life if not to engage our faith to believe what God will do in our own life?
Father, You did not make a way for me to escape only to lead me to die. I ask for You to come and minister to my mind. Show me in the Bible where someone has faced what I am facing. Show me how You got them through. I open my heart up to believe Your goodness to bring freedom to my life. I pray I would have the courage to speak of what Jesus did for those who chastise me for my faith. I ask to be faithful and give You the opportunity to demonstrate Your amazing love to provide in my need and in thiers. I pray I would not miss the opportunity to share my faith and believe for You to provide for what is needed in Jesus' name amen.
A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,
Veridee Joy Hand
Join together as Believers in Jesus Christ to pray and to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.
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