As you may remember, last time I concluded with discussing how when God called Moses from within the burning bush, Moses listened to God and replied,
"Here I am".
Today, I shall continue the story; let's pick up with (Exodus 3) verse five. In summary, this is where God tells Moses to take off his sandals because it is holy ground. Moses does so, and God then brings him up to speed:
"The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”"--verses 7-10
What? What did God just tell Moses to do? That's a big job. Yeah, that was exactly what Moses himself was thinking:
"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"--verse 11
Remember I told you that I'm taking Intro to Public Speaking? On one of the very first days of class, my professor polled us and wrote out on the board different fears of public speaking that we all have. Our fears ranged from forgetting our lines, trembling legs, fainting, dry mouth, and much, much more! If there ever seemed to be a dis-qualified and shy public speaker, it was Moses. And he gave plenty of excuses:
"I certainly don't have the qualifications, God" (verse 11)
"What if I go to the Israelites and they don't know who You are?" (verse 13)
"What if the Israelites don't believe that You sent me?" (Exodus 4:1)
"I have never been a good public speaker, God!" (verse 10)
"Look God, can you just send someone else?" (verse 13)
But for every excuse, God had an answer:
To Moses saying he wasn't qualified, God said "“I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”" (chapter 3, verse 12)
You know, I think it interesting, there's a saying that my dad will sometimes quote that goes something like this: "God doesn't always call the qualified, but he qualifies the called!" Meaning, sometimes the most qualified people aren't willing to be used by God, but God always qualifies the people willing to be used in His service.
To Moses' questioning that the Israelites might not believe that God had sent him, God replied, ""I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent you.'...“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." (chapter 3, verses 14, 18-20)
God had already told Moses that He would be with him, and now that the elders of Israel would indeed listen to Moses. And even though Pharaoh wouldn't initially let the Israelites go, he would let them go int he end. Just think of that! With God telling him, Moses knew the end from the beginning. Wouldn't that be great, and exciting? But still Moses hesitated.
To Moses questioning that the Israelites might not believe that God had sent him, God gave Moses the power to perform several miraculous signs, involving snakes (Exodus 4:2-5), leprosy (verses 6-7), and water-turned-to-blood (verse 9).
One by one, Moses' objections were being shot down by God's answers. Now, the truth comes out in chapter 4, verse 10:
"Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” "
In other words, "God, I'm just not that great of a public speaker! In fact, I'm terrible!" But Moses already had had plenty of promises that God would be with him and help him, still, he faltered. But remember, God always qualifys the called. At this point, I'm pretty sure that God is getting at least a tad bit frustrated and upset:
"The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” " --verses 11-12
In short, God is telling Moses, "Moses! Who made your mouth, or gave you any ability at all? Me! God! Now if I want you to go tell Pharaoh to go let My children go, don't you think that I'll give you the ability to do so? Look, I'll be with you! You'll be successful! Now GO!"
OK, so perhaps God was a bit more gentle. Good thing that God is, because that's what I'd have told Moses.
Still, for the fifth time in a row, Moses balked. By now, he didn't have any excuse to give God; he just didn't want to go.
"But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."" --verse 13
Remember that classic little poem?
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done
I'm afraid to say, but sadly I feel like we see this in our world quite a bit today. There is so much good out there to do, but too often we leave the "good doing" to big church organizations, boards, and administrators. We leave all the witnessing to the pastor, when, in fact, we all should be doing our part to be a good witness and win souls to Christ. My point is, that a difference will be seen when we as a people--all of us--decide to make a difference in our own spheres of influence. Everyone doing the little--or big--that they can, will in the long run make a big picture. We shouldn't be like Moses, begging out of jobs that God has called us to. And remember, if God calls us to do something, he will qualify us for that position as well.
By this time, God is really getting upset with Moses. "Look!" He says. "I know that your brother Aaron is an awesome public speaker. In fact, he's already on his way to meet you. Now GO, both of you, and tell Pharaoh to let My people go!"
And so Moses goes.
Oh wait, that's what "I" would have told Moses. Go see how God phrases the same message in much nicer words in Exodus 4:14-17. :)
There's several lessons that one could take away from this story, but one that I see is to just not question what God tells you to do. Easier said then done! But still, important to do. God will equip us with whatever we need to accomplish His bidding. And remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:11-12,
"“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.""
And now, I leave you with just two questions. First of all, what has God called you to do? And second, are you doing it?
No comments:
Post a Comment