“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it arose in his heart to look upon his brothers, the sons of Israel. And seeing one being wronged, he defended him and avenged him who was oppressed and struck the Egyptian. For he thought his brothers would understand that God would give them deliverance by his hand. But they did not understand. And the next day he appeared to them while fighting. And he urged them to peace, saying, Men, you are brothers, why do you wrong one another? But he who wronged his neighbor thrust him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Will you not kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? And Moses fled at this word, and became a temporary resident in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons” (Act 7:22-29).

“It arose in his heart”, “he thought” and “The Lord chose, said and sent” are absolutely different situations and actions. How often we follow what we think, what comes to our hearts or rises from our hearts or even from other sources rather than what the Lord tells us!

But here’s what’s interesting: a man does not act according to God’s will, as it was with Moses in this case when he had to flee Egypt to save his life. And the next period of his life Moses spent in the wilderness, among other nations, having become a shepherd, like them, in an environment directly opposite to the civilized Egypt. His wilderness experience came to him because he was too self-confident which is an expression of pride; he was burning with a “strange fire” of human zeal about the enslavement of his people. And the wilderness that he had fled to became his cure from pride, self-confidence and other things, so that forty years later he became the meekest of all people on the earth, according to the Lord God himself! (Which means that it’s absolutely true.)

Problems that we incur for ourselves as a result of our disobedience to the Lord, our lusts, pride and many other things in us, are our most radical and effective cure from these very sins and fleshly desires that had caused these problems. But the cure will heal us only if we take it correctly, if we walk the rest of our life in humility and obedience to the Lord no matter how problematic that would be. Yes, in some cases the course of treatment is very long – it took Moses forty years! But not everyone of us has the same problems or the same calling. Although, sometimes a much smaller problem can take even more time than this.

Look at your problems, especially the ones that you had caused with your own disobedience to the Lord, not as on punishment but as on treatment which in his great mercy, grace and wisdom the Heavenly Doctor is prescribing to you. And go through your course of treatment fully, so that it would penetrate to the very depth of your being, to your very roots, from where your problem comes. God is kind and merciful; believe me, He will not keep giving you this cure after you are healed. He knows when and how you should be transferred to a different position. He can take you out of the hospital, entrust a new perspective to you as a spiritually healthy person.

Unfortunately, some people in such situations humble themselves not before God but before their problem or sickness. They consent to live with it for the rest of their lives without changing their essence. This is their choice which brings them to a chronic condition of certain problems before the Lord.

I cannot keep wondering how great the mercy and wisdom of the Lord is! The problems we cause as a result of our own sins and fleshly lives, with our disobedience and opposition to the Lord, are our original cure, made specifically for us under his wise and careful control. THE HARDSHIPS WE CAUSE OURSELVES ARE OUR BEST AND OUR ONLY CURE! Take them in humility before the Lord, with many prayers, at the frequency and regularity that you need during this period of your life – and may the Lord bless you to live to the day when he meets you at your own burning bush – your cross – and tells you: enough, my child, the term of your treatment and preparation is over!

There are also cases when a certain treatment is prescribed by the Heavenly Doctor for the rest of our earthly lives, just like the “thorn in the flesh” was given to Apostle Paul for the rest of his life to help him keep himself humble before God. This is like medicine for a chronic patient, to keep him alive. In such cases there will be no liberation until the earthly path is finished. Apostle Paul wrote that he has a great expectation of the day when the Lord calls him and he would be able to leave behind his mortal body together with its “medical thorn”.

God Holy Spirit, I have passed what I had heard. I have passed the leaven. And you, in your mercy and grace, show each reader of this word what they need to hear and see: explain, add, expand, translate into simpler words and images, and show the application to their personal lives in order to get your blessing.