Transformed

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

TRANSFORMED

Acts 7:9-22

 

9 "Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 "Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. 17 "As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. 20 "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

NIV

Stephen is building the case against the men of the Sanhedrin by recounting their history with their first patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and now with his son Joseph, and how Israel became who they are. Stephen will get to Moses, who was a prophet and the leader who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. The point of this history lesson is to condemn them for disobedience, which we will get to as we work through the complete speech of Stephen. But for now, we will focus on what he said about Moses being educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and being powerful in speech and actions. Strangely, Stephen would have said that about Moses because when Mose encountered God at the burning bush, one of the excuses he tried to give God was that he had never been eloquent in the past and that he was slow of speech and tongue. Here we are shown the truth about how God does whatever He wants to do with anyone, regardless of that person's talents, skills, or abilities. He told a man slow of speech and tongue and turned him into a man of powerful speech and action. Perhaps that was Stephen's story as well, for he was full of God's grace and power. I can testify about the power of God, as we were once very slow of speech, in fact, afraid to speak, hiding behind my camera, not wanting to engage with people. Having extremely limited skills in verbal communication and the nuances of English, God took me into a place I would never have imagined. No matter our background, education, skills, talents, or abilities, God can take us beyond and use us for his purpose. In the case of Moses, God made sure he learned all he would need to be the leader God intended him to be. He can and will do the same thing for any of us if we are willing to give him full access to our facilities, our minds, souls, hearts, and strengths. We know that truth that with us it is not possible, but with God, all things are possible. God transformed Moses into what he needed him to be. Let us continue to trust him, submitting to his purpose, and he will transform us into who he needs us to be.