But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Exodus 4: 10-12 (ESV)
When God gave Moses the monumental assignment of leading the
Israelite people out of Egyptian bondage, Moses was reluctant. He was very much
like most of us, in that he felt unqualified for the task. The astonishing thing is that although Moses felt humbly inadequate, he was actually audaciously bold to challenge God's choice for this immense undertaking.
Moses' first challenge to God was, “I am not a great man.”
We all feel that way at times. God places on our heart some task and our
thought is, “Who are we?”
Moses’ second challenge was, “Who shall I tell them, gave
me this assignment?” We all feel as if we need a scapegoat. If we make a mess
of things, we need someone else to blame.
After God proclaimed that He was the one sending
Moses, his third challenge to God was, “What if
they do not believe me?” We all fear rejection. We wonder if people will truly
believe our motives.
Even after God performed miracles, Moses boldly told God as
his fourth challenge, “I am not qualified because I have a speech impediment.”
This part is almost funny. We do the same thing. We tell God something He
already knows. Many times we say something similar to this, “Dear God, You know
my neighbor on the right, named Tom, whose wife, Mary, died of cancer six
months ago? He has become reclusive and I don’t think he will want me to come
visit.” Why do we do that? Do we forget that we are speaking to the all-knowing
creator of the universe?
Moses had challenged God four times, and still boldly asked
God to, “Please pick someone else.” For
a man who felt unqualified to perform a task, he definitely felt qualified to
question God Almighty.
At this point God answers his four challenges, with four
questions: Who made your mouth? Your eyes? Your ears? Wasn’t I the one? Just four simple questions puts everything into perspective.
We need to remember that although we may feel unworthy, scared or unqualified to: reach out to our neighbor, speak to the sad-looking woman on the park bench,
pray with the rebellious teenager, or talk to our parents about Christ, when
God gives us an assignment, who are we to question Him?
Dear Lord,
Thank you for creating our mouth, eyes and ears. Thank you for using us. Help us to go out in your power and might.
In Your Name,
Amen
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