What did Moses have to become before God could use him?
Moses had to become a nothing—a lowly sheepherder living with smelly sheep for 40 years, with almost no human contact. In Egyptian eyes, a sheepherder was an abomination. Only after being reduced to that humble, silent state could God use him.
Les explains that Moses went out to the children of Israel supposing they would understand he was to deliver them, but he left God out of the picture and used his own position. So God took him to the back side of the desert and made him a sheepherder for 40 years—an abomination in Egyptian eyes. He became a nothing, living with smelly sheep and almost no contact with humans. When God approached him at the burning bush, Moses' first excuse was, “I can't talk,” because after 40 years of near silence he had almost forgotten how. That is where God had to take Moses before He could use him.