Getting Out of a Slave Mentality
The life and journey of Moses is extremely fascinating. There is no denying that God’s hand was on his life, from it being spared during a time when a royal decree ordered that baby boys be killed; to Moses’ infant body floating down a river in a basket, fully susceptible to snakes, crocodiles and harmful insects- but not being harmed; to being adopted as the son of one of the most powerful men in the world at that time; to growing up in the desert for 40 years after murdering a man; to leading a whole nation of people out of 430 years of slavery in Egypt. There’s so much to learn from the life of Moses, especially when it comes to leadership principles. But today I want to focus on the topic: getting out of a slave mentality, specifically when you’re put in an environment you weren’t born into.
When God places people, or rather exposes people to different environments than they were born into, it’s for a reason. Moses was born to a woman named Jochebed, a slave. Moses was born into poverty, in the sense that his parents did not own anything of their own. But, God exposed Moses to just the opposite- wealth, luxury, excess, arrogance, aristocracy, royalty, dignity, a sense of power- basically a different way of living than he was born into.
Why? Well God had a plan for Moses and there was something He wanted Moses to get inside the walls of a palace, which would help in the freeing of thousands of Israelites. What God wanted to do in Moses’ life and where He wanted to take him couldn’t be learned in a slave environment. Moses wouldn’t have been effective in helping to lead the Israelites out of slavery had he not grown up in the royal system. In a slave environment comes a slave mentality. Most slaves (with the exception of those like Harriett Tubman) have low self-esteem and weak-minded thinking. A great leader simply cannot have a slave mindset.
God strategically positioned Moses in an environment of cockiness and strength, so that he’d be virile, with his shoulders held high. Though the Egyptians were corrupt and evil, God still used their ways for His plan to free His people. God can and will often use the most unlikely of people (non-believers and corrupt people) to look favorably upon His children to influence them. Why? So that His children will get something from that environment that they couldn’t get in the environment they were born into. Whatever they get from their new environment will be used for the glory of God and the betterment of mankind.
Trust God when He places you in environments that seem to contradict what you were born into. When He exposes you to a foreign environment there is something He wants you to get that will be used for another season of life.
Happy Friday!
