He was forty and it came to his heart to visit his people. When he saw one of his brothers being mistreated, he rescued him and killed the enemy. “…He was assuming his brothers [and sisters] to be understanding that God [was] giving deliverance to them through his hand…” Acts 7:25 (ALT). What a costly assumption! What was his confidence? What gave him such audacity? Why was he parading himself as the savior of his people? The Bible says, “Moses was given the best education in Egypt. He was a strong man and a powerful speaker.” Acts 7:22 (CEV). His confidence was in his degrees, his formal education. He believed that by his training he was qualified to rescue his people from bondage. Perhaps, he had some military training too with awards and accolades and so he thought, “I am now ready and I have what it takes to perform the job.” Unfortunately, he missed the point. He did not realize this until the following day. He was still basking in his presumption when one of his own brothers challenged him, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?”
Speechless, Moses took to his heels. He had no time to take his PhD certificate and other credentials. The prince of Egypt became stranded in the wilderness of life. God wanted to show him that what qualifies men for divine assignment is not formal education. For the first time in all his life, Moses fetched water with a drawer. He slept on a mat that same night unlike his waterbed in Egypt. He was content to live with Jethro who later became his mentor and father in law. In a single day, he learnt meekness, hard work and contentment; courses he was never taught in the premier university of Egypt. Through these experiences, God had a chance to take the deliverer of Israel through His own curriculum of informal trainings. He was grooming the meekest man on the face of the earth through forty arduous years of unorganized trainings. By the time he was ready, the same man who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt and was mighty in words and deeds confessed that he could not speak. What happened to his tongue? Was his speech impaired?
Through the ages, God has consistently revealed that He does not necessarily raise His vessels through the formal education. Training for destiny fulfillment does not happen in the four walls of the classroom. Joseph was destined to be the world’s most powerful nation’s finance and economic minister yet he had no degrees from Harvard Business School. In fact, he was a drop out. He had to quit school because he was declared missing and murdered. Joseph had his trainings in the pit, Potiphar’s house and in the prison. He had no certificate to present on the day he was to be inaugurated as the prime minister in Egypt.
There was a seminary, a school of the prophets in the days of Elijah. However, when it was time to choose the successor of Elijah, God did not go there. Rather, He went to handpick a business tycoon – Elisha, who had no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew taught in the seminary. I have not stopped to wonder how God would do such a thing. What is the correlation between business and the prophetic ministry?
There are countless examples of scriptural and contemporary men and women who were used by God in fields that was completely contrary to their formal education. Jesus Christ was also a perfect example of this. The Saviour of the world was raised in a carpentry workshop. What a contrast! He also recruited His apostles from the midst of mere fishermen.
It is good to be educated and I’ll encourage you to get all the degrees you can afford to get. However, God has a different curriculum for His own though His informal trainings are sometimes sandwiched in the formal ones. He is a specialist in using our laid out plans and programs in achieving and accomplishing his ultimate purpose for our lives, most of which we are not aware of.
David was an Animal scientist. He was in charge of the family’s flock. Little did he know that God was quietly testing him the day a lion and a bear attacked the flock. God was watching what was going to be his response. He passed the test and God took note of it. David later understood the relevance of his underground trainings on the day he went to the battle to see the welfare of his brothers. When he heard the roaring of Goliath, it resembled that of the lion and the bear he had killed. He told the king, “I did it before and I’ll do it again. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hands of this philistine.” His brothers could not stop him because they have never killed a lion or a bear despite their ranks in the military.
Friend, even the world system is not looking for degrees but deliveries i.e. men and women who have what it takes. Your destiny fulfillment does not necessarily depend on your formal training but relevant values and virtues you are absorbing in the formal and informal situations of life.
What is your attitude to work? How are you faring at home? Do you run errands for the elderly ones? How about time management? Do you beat deadlines? Can you speak with congruence and confidence before a crowd? What about your character and interpersonal relationships? Can you single handedly take the right decision in a crisis situation? Can you work with or without supervision? Do you know how to manage your emotions? Can you survive under pressure to go against your convictions? What about money management? Do you live within your means or you are a spend drift? Are you hospitable? Do you know how to cook?
There are no curriculums for such things in our formal schools. This is the reason why a medical doctor can still be a smoker. It is the same reason why a PhD holder beats his wife. Your certificate in midwifery is not a guarantee you will make a good wife. You can be the best in animal husbandry and still be the worst of husbands. While you pursue your degree, pursue a higher degree – to be the kind of person God wants you to be. Jim Elliot was the one who made the popular quotation, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” He was part of the missionary martyrs that opened up part of Ecuador to the gospel. While he was in college, his goal was to earn another degree called AUG (Approved Unto God) apart from his school degree. He did have it and went to field of missions afterwards.
Only the wise are able to locate the training opportunities for destiny fulfillment sandwiched in the ordinary course of life. Do not be part of those who have master’s degree but who have not mastered the basics of life. Receive grace to recognize and make the most of every informal training God will be bringing your way henceforth. They are the experiences that make the real impact on your life or else your generation will ask you one of these days as they asked Moses, “Who made you?”