The Lord does not choose or accept laborers according to the advantages they have enjoyed, or according to the superior education they have received. The value of the human agent is estimated according to the capacity of the heart to know and understand God.... The highest possible good is obtained through a knowledge of God. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:3. This knowledge is the secret spring from which flows all power.... (CT 406.1) MC VC

The Education of Moses VC

The education received by Moses, as the king’s grandson, was very thorough. Nothing was neglected that would make him a wise man, as the Egyptians understood wisdom. But the most valuable part of Moses’ fitting for his lifework was that which he received as a shepherd. As he led his flocks through the wilds of the mountains and into the green pastures of the valleys, the God of nature taught him the highest wisdom. In the school of nature, with Christ as his teacher, he learned lessons of humility, meekness, faith, and trust, all of which bound his soul closer to God. In the solitude of the mountains he learned that which all his instruction in the king’s palace was unable to impart to him—simple, unwavering faith and a constant trust in the Lord. (CT 406.2) MC VC

Moses had supposed that his education in the wisdom of Egypt fully qualified him to lead Israel from bondage. Was he not learned in all those things necessary for a general of armies? Had he not had the advantages of the best schools in the land? Yes, he felt that he was able to deliver his people. He set about his work by trying to gain their favor by redressing their wrongs. He killed an Egyptian who was imposing upon one of the Israelites. In this he manifested the spirit of him who was a murderer from the beginning, and proved himself unfit to represent the God of mercy, love, and tenderness. (CT 407.1) MC VC

Moses made a miserable failure of his first attempt; and, like many another, he immediately lost confidence in God and turned his back on his appointed work. He fled from the wrath of Pharaoh. He concluded that because of his great sin in taking the life of the Egyptian, God would not permit him to have any part in the work of delivering his people from their cruel bondage. But the Lord allowed these things that He might teach Moses the gentleness, goodness, and long-suffering that it is necessary for every laborer for the Master to possess in order to be a successful worker in His cause.... (CT 407.2) MC VC

Moses had been taught to expect flattery and praise because of his superior abilities; now he was to learn a different lesson. As a shepherd of sheep, Moses learned to care for the afflicted, to nurse the sick, to seek patiently after the straying, to bear long with the unruly, to supply with loving solicitude the wants of the young lambs and the necessities of the old and feeble. In this experience he was drawn nearer to the Chief Shepherd. He became united to, submerged in, the Holy One of Israel. He believed in the great God. He held communion with the Father through humble prayer. He looked to the Highest for an education in spiritual things and for a knowledge of his duty as a faithful shepherd. His life became so closely linked with heaven that God talked with him face to face, “as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Exodus 33:11. (CT 407.3) MC VC