Working Wonders of the Wilderness.

Moses and Aaron must have had the worst job ever! Talk of leading the most stubborn, opinionated and ungrateful bunch of people in history on a journey spanning 40 years, in the wilderness of all places!! I would have secretly knocked them off in their sleep or given God a very good reason to obliterate them all..phew!!. I'm sure looking back at his call, Moses would have wondered if he'd missed out anything on the job description!  Am sure if he'd known how stiff-necked the Israelites were going to be let's just say he may have backed out (eerm, I would.). To think poor Aaron was roped into it. A simple visit to his brother became a life long adventure...see wahala!  The 10 plagues and the run in with Pharaoh were child's play compared with dealing with this group of complaining people.

Beyond the physical and emotional roller coaster that the wilderness sojourn was, It became a journey of self discovery, growth, spiritual enlightenment and awesome revelation of God to these two ordinary guys and their motley crew. The several headlocks with the Israelites most times brought them to the end of themselves but allowed God manifest his power through them. Even God many times was almost(as if that is possible) at the end of His tethers with His chosen people." And the lord said to Moses, I have seen this people and indeed it is stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation".Exodus 32:9-10. Say What God? An opportunity to be the progenitor of a new generation of mankind? I accept!! well that's me talking but not Moses.

Moses rather pleaded on behalf of the Israel. I also found amazing his response to God's looming judgement. "Lord why does your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand hand".
Hold on a minute!! The same Moses who killed an Egyptian in the fit of anger is now giving God a lecture on Anger management. Incredible!! What happened to the self proclaimed deliverer of Israel? Moses had been transformed by the journey in the wilderness. Every step in that scorching sun drew him closer to God and opened his eyes to God's manifold power. The wilderness was a good place for Moses and Aaron. For Moses, out went the final traces of that brash young prince and in its place evolved a humble leader divinely entrusted with leading a great nation through dangerous terrains.  It was in the Wilderness that Aaron found his priestly calling. Challenges are never palatable but the learning outcomes are always worth it.

Patience was the least of my virtues while growing up but since living with my son's challenges, I have become less cranky, touchy and more understanding-all in the wilderness. I've learnt to view people through more empathic lens-all in the wilderness. Indeed there are working wonders in the wilderness. When next you find yourself in a prickly situation, the people that rub you off the wrong way, don't complain. Think of it as an adventure, a story unfolding. No matter how painful, it will soon make sense.