God has wonderful things for us. As we obey Him, we can get to the place where God wants us to be sooner rather than later. Sin can send us on a detour and lengthen the time it takes to get to our destination. Moses is a good example of such a thing, and we can learn from his mistakes.

“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. Acts 7:17-36 (New International Version, NIV)

Moses felt the call of God on his life, so he tried to do what he felt God has called him to do. Moses was called to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage but he got ahead of God’s timing, and he did not seek God’s method for freeing the nation. Moses took matters into his own hands. When he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of his people, he tried to help and ended up killing the Egyptian. He was confronted with his deed, and he ran away.

Moses ran to the wilderness when he was 40 years old, and he spent 40 years in the wilderness of Midian tending sheep. So, when he was 80 years old, God brought him back to deliver Israel. It took longer than it could have for Moses to step into his destiny because he was disobedient and acted on his own. Yet, God still used him.

My point is that we are all on our way to the destiny and calling God has for us. It may take longer for some of us to arrive because of bad choices, wrong relationships, missteps, and so on. Sin delays the process and makes things take longer. As we follow God and do what He says, we can avoid years of not being where God wants us and not doing what He has for us to do. If we stay clear of sin, we will get where we want to be sooner rather than later.