"We may know something, and be called to something, or have a revelation of something, but it is not yet the moment of God's time to express it. Can we patiently hold it until that time? Why then does God give the calling and then call for it at a much later time? Why put the man through all kinds of inward struggles and wrestling? Why does he not give the calling and fulfillment right at the same time? What is served by giving a calling way in advance, and then requiring it at a much later time? Why does God allow it? What takes place existentially and inwardly that somehow serves the purposes of God?
Is it a coincidence that Moses is forty years on the backside of the desert? Forty signifies trial and testing. We need to respect the extraordinary preparation of a man for service, because if we do not respect it in Moses, then we will not respect it in ourselves. Will we be willing to submit to waiting and to conditions of trial and preparation for true service when the whole religious world clamors for action?
There is something in God's heart that is tenderly disposed to those who watch the flock by night, who are dutiful, faithful and unprepossessing. Shepherding sheep was the most disgraceful vocation in Egypt. There was nothing lower in Egyptian values than tending flocks, and for forty years that was all Moses did.
There is something that is served in monotony and regularity, in something that is predictable, that has no variation, that lacks any kind of flamboyance or charismatic excitement, but requires a steadfast patience and faithful performance, day after day after day. If Moses had not done that, he would not have been qualified to bring the flock of God out of Egypt. The one was a necessary preliminary to the other, and we need to serve our apprenticeship in the things that are ordinary, unseen and undistinguished, and show ourselves faithful in that, in order to be faithful in the other. This is the sublime wisdom and requirement of God." - Art Katz