Moses had a heart for killers

When God, your God, throws the nations out of the country
that God, your God, is giving you and you settle down in their cities and houses, you are to set aside three easily accessible cities in the land that God, your God, is giving you as your very own. Divide your land into thirds, this land that God, your God, is giving you to possess, and build roads to the towns so that anyone who accidentally kills another can flee there. - Deuteronomy 19:1-3(The Message)

This passage always got me. I used to think that this was something Moses just made up. We all know Moses was a murderer (even if an accidental one), and it would have been really easy for him, as he's getting commands from God, to just throw this one in on his own - make a refuge. But, now I think it's more than that.

First, I think God gives us answers to what we seek from him. Matthew 7:8 tells us we will find what we seek, and if Moses were bothered by this thoughtless act earlier in his life, it's likely he would have been seeking an answer for how to help others in the same situation. Since he certainly would have prayed about it and sought God's wisdom in earnest, it's likely God would have given him this answer.

Second, I have often seen God use people who have been through a situation to help others go through that same situation. This is the whole philosophy of the 12-step program, no? Let people who have been there help people who are there. Whether it's addictions, relationships, illness, or anything else we can go through, we're not the first to go through it. Often, one of the most powerful forces God puts in our lives are people who have been through what we're going through.

I have a friend right now who's going through a rough time in his marriage due to some poor choices he made. His strongest advocate and wisest counselor is another man who made those same poor choices a few years ago. God has worked in my friend's heart intensely through this relationship.

Former addicts have a heart for addicts. Divorcees have a heart for those going through divorce. Moses had a heart for killers. And when he sought God's wisdom, he found how to help them. If you seek His wisdom, you will find it too.