On Purpose

“God knew what He was doing when He blended cultures within me. My mixed cultural background serves a beautiful purpose towards others and myself.”

Many times our multicultural and multiethnic roots can come with both painful and joyful experiences. Sometimes we can feel alone, misunderstood, and out of place. It can feel like our very existence makes people uncomfortable. In the painful times it’s hard to remember that God created each one of us on purpose with a purpose.

I want to tell you of a person who had a very impactful life because his multicultural identity uniquely positioned him to change history.

In the bible we learn of a man named Moses who was born during a time when the King of Egypt who came into power became afraid of the growth of the Israelite nation. He instilled fear through propaganda into the Egyptian people and eventually enslaved the Hebrews making their lives incredibly miserable. The king ordered for all of the baby boys to be killed by throwing them into the Nile River in order to stop the population growth of the Hebrew people in Egypt. Thankfully two mid wives had the courage to stand against that edict and continued to help women give birth to Hebrew children. A couple from the tribe of Levi gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and his mother, Jochebed, hid him as long as she could. Eventually when the child was 3 months old she could hide him no longer and  made a reed basket to put him in and placed it into the river. Eventually the daughter of Pharaoh found him and adopted him as her own son. She named him Moses because she drew him out of the water.

Moses grew up in the palace, was educated and lived as a prince of Egypt. But Moses knew who he was and he didn’t like what was being done to his people. One day Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite and ended up killing the Egyptian to stop the abuse. This action caused the King of Egypt to want to kill Moses causing Moses to flee  into the desert to save his own life. 

One day while he was sitting by a well Moses came to the rescue of the daughters of a Midianite Priest name Jethro who were being harassed at the well by other shepherds.  The young ladies told their father how an Egyptian protected them. Eventually Moses stayed with them and married one of Jethro’s daughters named Zipporah. He named his first son Gershom because he was a foreigner in this country. After 40 years living a quiet family life, God came to Moses in a burning bush and commissioned him to go back to Egypt and free His people because God had heart their cry. At first Moses was scared. He gave many excuses why he shouldn’t go but God gave him help. And through many tribulations Moses eventually led the people of Israel out of Egypt. 

I’ve heard Moses’s story since I was a child and one day I pondered on his life in a new way. I wondered what it must have been like to be raised as a young child in one culture and adopted into another. Then to flee into another land and marry into yet another culture. It hit me that Moses was also a multicultural person like myself. I thought about how he must have felt feelings similar to myself growing up. Feelings of  loneliness and not quite fitting in anywhere he was. He was a Hebrew, raised in an Egyptian palace and also an immigrant in Midian. We know that this impacted Moses because he named his first son Gershom which means “a stranger there”.

Moses knew what it was like to feel out of place. He knew what it was like to see injustice and want to make a difference. He knew what it was like to not really have a home. But Moses was uniquely positioned to move between these cultures and between the socio economic divides. He had the ear of Pharaoh because he was raised, educated and taught to lead in the palace. He could speak the languages needed to speak to the King of Egypt and the people of Israel.  Moses’ faith coupled with what God already designed uniquely positioned Moses to fulfill his assignment to lead the people of Israel out of slavery.

Moses’s multicultural blend was an asset to serve the people he loved and also for him to walk out the desire God had given him his whole life. Moses wanted to see justice for his people and God finally was calling him to step into his calling and tell Pharoah to let God’s people go.

In the same way God designed Moses, you are also handcrafted by God. He not only blended your cultures on purpose but your personality, your talents, your gifts and the work He has purposed for you to do on this earth. You were not a mistake and who you are uniquely positioned for only what you can do when you trust in Him.

Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ESV

Psalm 139:14 David is praising God and says “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” NLT

Philippians 1:6 says And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Lastly, I want to encourage you to wait on the Lord and be patient. But you can wait with joyful expectation. I like to think about it like the ultimate surprise party that you actually know about but you STILL have to wait for it to happen. But while you wait you are in joyful anticipation of something AWESOME. Moses tried too early to execute his desire to see justice and it resulted in him murdering an Egyptian who was beating a slave.

In God’s timing - Moses was tempered. He was ready to listen to God’s strategies for freedom. This time Moses’ efforts resulted in more than he could imagine. He didn’t just save one man but millions of people.

I hope you begin to look at your multicultural and multi ethnic make up as a gift that one day will be opened and bless not only you but those around you and bring glory to God.

I made a free gift for you my mixed culture friend! It’s called The Mixed Culture Manifesto. It’s a three minute audio full of affirmations you can play every day to start your day out right. It also comes with affirmation cards you can print out and keep near you to stay motivated!