It is ever God’s way to prepare His servants in secret for the
work they are afterwards to accomplish in public. All of the following of God’s
servants attest to this fact:
1. Moses at the backside of the desert: "Then fled Moses at this
saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons." (Acts
7:29)
2. Gideon on the threshing-floor: "Behold, I will put a fleece of
wool on the threshing floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all
the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast
said." (Judges 6:37)
3. David with his few sheep out upon the hillside: "Wherefore Saul
sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the
sheep." (1 Sam. 16:19)
4. Daniel refusing to be defiled with the king’s meat: "But
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the
king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank....." (Dan. 1:8)
5. Amos herding the cattle in the wilderness of Tekoa: "The words
of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa......" (Amos 1:1)
6. John the Baptist in the desert: "In those days came John the
Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea." (Matt. 3:1)
7. Simon Peter in his fishing boat: "Now as He walked by the sea
of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen." (Mark 1:16)
8. Paul in Arabia: "Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which
were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia......" (Galatians 1:17)
It is important to observe that only he who has thus learned of God in
the school of obscurity is likely to shine in the blaze of publicity.