April 12 ~ Exodus 4:10-17
Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”
God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.”
He said, “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!”
God got angry with Moses: “Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he’s on his way to meet you. When he sees you he’s going to be glad. You’ll speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step. He will speak to the people for you. He’ll act as your mouth, but you’ll decide what comes out of it. Now take this staff in your hand; you’ll use it to do the signs.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
A lot of Bible scholars believe that Moses stuttered. I KNOW! The man who said to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” had a speech impediment! So when God commanded Him to lead the Israelites, this was his excuse for not stepping up to the plate. And God’s answer was, in essence, “Okay then… I’ll tell you what to say, and you have your brother, Aaron, say it for you!” You cannot outsmart God!
You and I have all sorts of excuses for not taking on any number of projects or tasks… some God-designed, and some created by mere mortals. You might even say that more than a few of us have become fairly expert at tossing around excuses. We’ve covered our tracks and bowed out of agreements and commitments for so long that we don’t even have to think about it these days…our justifications simply roll right off the tongue! And a few of them might work with regular folk. We might be able to talk our way out of serving on a committee or going to a party that we don’t care to attend. We can probably come up with a “good enough” reason for skipping a workout or eating that extra slice of pie. And everyone might have a good laugh over it… as in “I’m not fat… I’m just short for my height!”
But I’m willing to bet that God has nudged you to do something at least once or twice in your life, and you have made excuses to Him. Maybe He has whispered, “You need to call Tom or Sue…” and you said, “I wouldn’t know what to say,” or “I’ll do it later.” Perhaps God has created an opportunity for you to witness to someone and share the Good News of Jesus Christ… and you “froze” and reasoned that “I might embarrass this person,” or “This is not really the time and place…” Or maybe God has convicted your heart that what you are participating in – physically or verbally – is wrong, but you continued, with the defense that you would rather not risk ridicule, call attention to yourself, or suffer a temporary embarrassment.
Like I said, we all have our reasons for the things we do… and most of us feel fairly confident that they are sound. But we haven’t asked God what He thinks, because deep down, we know that there are a lot of holes in our alibis… our explanations are fairly flimsy… and our excuses are exactly that - a dodge and deception. We can make all of the apologies in the world… as if that makes the situation better or more plausible. But at the end of the day, God knows the truth. And if you care anything at all about what God thinks of you… or what He knows about you… then you have to admit that our excuses are completely ridiculous and unacceptable.
When God calls us to do something, we need to be front and center – asking “Where, when, and how?” We need to fully believe that whatever God calls us to do…He will equip us to handle. He may send an “Aaron” to help us… or He may provide us with strength and abilities we had no idea we possessed (and didn’t without Supernatural assistance!). Regardless of how the tasks are accomplished, we must be ready and willing to accept God’s assignments. What about you? Are you ready to step up – and out – for God… or are you still busy making excuses?
©2013 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment