It’s Not About Us – Deuteronomy 34 (ESV)

Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

These verses are oddly comforting to me. I look at a biblical hero like Moses and realize that he had his limitations. No one (the text will later say) was like Moses, but still, he was not perfect. He was unable to enter the Promised Land because of his error at Meribah. What a comfort that God uses imperfect people. In the passage above, he stands atop Mt. Pisgah and sees the land the Israelites would possess. Of course, Moses bypassed the physical promised land for heaven, so it’s not that he was lost from God’s presence; it is simply that he didn’t get to see the fruits of his labor. It helps me realize that the work is not about us or our vision, but it is about God and His will. God had another leader, Joshua, who would pick up the baton and move forward to complete the work Moses started. That is also very comforting. We often think that our work is on our shoulders, but really it is all His work, and it is on His shoulders. What a relief! Our job is to be faithful, and He brings the results in His way and in His time. We often take too much credit (or blame) for things that are not within our control. Moses didn’t have to worry whether God’s plans would succeed or not, and neither do we. He’s got this… what a relief!

Finally, Moses was mourned for a time, but then the people moved on. I have always thought that it would be disheartening to move from one phase to another and be relegated to a distant memory in people’s minds. But honestly, it comes as an odd relief. The older I get, the less I want people to notice me and the more I want people to glorify Him. I find myself encouraged when I see forward progress in the Kingdom that has nothing to do with me. I think that when we are young, we take ourselves way too seriously, and it is a gift to look back on the twists and turns of life and realize it was as much about the journey as the destination. Even more so, it is as much about what God is doing in us as what He does through us. Maybe I am wrong, but I think this was running through the mind of the older, contemplative Moses as he surveyed the horizon from that lonely mountain top.