Exodus 2:15

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

What Moses tried to do in secret did not stay secret for long. Once Pharaoh heard what had happened, the matter became serious immediately. Moses was no longer simply a promising man in Egypt’s household. He was now a marked man. The one who may have once seemed destined for greatness in Pharaoh’s court suddenly found himself running for his life. So he fled from the face of Pharaoh and made his way into the land of Midian.

That is a dramatic turn. Moses had grown up in privilege, influence, and power. He had lived in the palace, been trained in the learning of Egypt, and stood near the center of earthly greatness. But in a moment, all of that was behind him. The man who had once moved through the courts of Egypt now sits down alone by a well in Midian. The contrast is striking. One season had closed, and another had begun.

There is a hard lesson in that. Moses had tried to step into action before the Lord’s time, and now he is driven into the wilderness. What he likely imagined would be the beginning of his usefulness instead became the start of his exile. But even here, God had not abandoned him. Midian was not a detour outside the will of God in the ultimate sense. It was part of the process by which God would humble, shape, and prepare the man He intended to use.

That is often the way the Lord works with us. We think everything is over because one chapter collapses, when in reality God is only moving us into a different school. Moses thought he was ready at forty. God knew he would be ready at eighty. Moses thought the palace was the place where his calling would unfold. God knew the desert would be the classroom he needed first.

So he sat down by a well.

That little phrase carries a lot of weight. Moses is no longer acting. No longer forcing. No longer striking. He is just sitting there, emptied of all the confidence that once pushed him forward. And sometimes that is exactly where the Lord begins to do His deepest work. When the striving has run out, when the self assurance has been stripped away, when a man finds himself with nothing left but a well in the wilderness, God is often nearer than he realizes.

Moses fled because Pharaoh sought to kill him, but the flight itself became part of God’s preparation. The palace had given him education. Midian would give him formation. Egypt had taught him how men rule. The wilderness would teach him how God leads.