Exodus 4:10-12
Moses replied, " I have never been a good speaker. I wasn't one before you spoke to me, and I'm not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say."
But the LORD answered, " Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don't you know that I am the one who does these things? Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
In 1994, one of my classmates, Sandra, died of breast cancer. While Sandra was really never part of my “circle” in school, I became a friend of her mother’s after I graduated from college. She shared the upsetting news with me when Sandra had a biopsy that revealed cancer. We talked often as Sandra underwent surgery and treatments. I began to send cards of encouragement to Sandra, and in the weeks just before she died, I visited her in her parents’ home. I saw her for the last time in a Little Rock hospital, just hours before she died.
I was strongly impacted by Sandra’s death. Why had this single mother of two young boys been taken from them? Why not a childless person like myself? Why would God take her and leave me? Of course, I have come to understand that God has reasons we will never understand… and someday we will see that these were perfect plans. I’ve also come to understand how much God has used Sandra to change my attitudes and develop my heart for others.
In my grief and confusion over Sandra’s death, I will admit that I became almost angry with some of my friends and others who would say, “Oh, that is just so sad… but I could never go visit the family. I just don’t know what to say.” In many situations since, I’ve seen people almost literally freeze in their tracks, paralyzed with fear about what to say or do in similar situations. And while I have wonderful friends and family members who have rushed to my side when I’ve been in crisis, I’ve been on the receiving end when others did nothing.
I’m left to wonder… what do others in similar situations think? Do they automatically understand that people are frozen in fear and don’t know what to say or do? Or do they take it as a personal offense… a sign of unkindness and disrespect? When we don’t step out in faith and trust God to give us the words to speak, what do others think about our Christian witness… and worse yet, what does God think about our level of faith?
If you read the next few chapters of Exodus, you will see that God did indeed give Moses the words to say. Moses shared them with his brother Aaron, who apparently didn’t stutter and served as the family spokesman. But Moses and Aaron did what God asked them to do. The question is… are YOU doing what God asks? Are you reaching out to others and speaking on God’s behalf, trusting Him to give you the words and the courage to share them? What God did for Moses and Aaron, He stands ready to do for each of us. All we have to do is make the first move… step out in faith and reach out to those God puts in our path. Are you ready? Here we go…
©2011 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment