11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Moses wasn't done yet, of course. Eighty years of insecurities were overflowing on this holy ground. Here's Ex. 4:1-9 →
1Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” 2The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5“that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
Four down. God sounded a little frustrated with the last one, didn't He? It became, Whatcha got? I can make ANYTHING into a sign, young man. That stick, your hand, a cup of water, you name it. So, obviously Moses was convinced and agreed.
I'm just kidding.
10But 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.” 11Then 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? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
Translation: Listen, Moses...I made you. I can make you better, or I can break you. Got it?
Apparently not, because Moses finally cuts to the chase. No more excuses:
13But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him."
Now, here's the ultimate irony: Read the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which ends with the death of Moses. Aaron never did do the speaking for the pair: it was always Moses. All the way through to the river Jordan, it was Moses who did all the big talking, Moses who spoke to God (and at least in his own mind convinced God to save His People), Moses who made the grand speeches that filled the book of Deuteronomy.
Therefore, in the end, all of Moses' whining was a waste of time. Not only did it not convince God of any changes, but Moses was indeed up to the task set for him (and Aaron really wasn't, but that's a story for another time). God did NOT give him more than he could handle; to the contrary, Moses was more than up for the task given to him, though it was about 38 years longer than he expected it to be.
Has God suggested a task for YOU that you're afraid is too much for you to handle?
Is it possible, just possible, mind you, that HE is right and YOU are not?
Perhaps God has more faith in you than you have in Him!
You ought to trust Him for once, my friend! Trust that God knows what He's doing - even if you're looking at the situation and thinking, no, there's no way this is going to work out! - perhaps He has some foreknowledge that you don't have. Perhaps He's got an ace up His figurative sleeve!
My pastor (my former pastor, officially, at this point) was led to step down after 27 years without a set plan in place to care for his family or serve God (besides the jobs he and his wife have held outside the church). All they know for sure at the moment that God DOES have a plan for them, and that they had to be free of their attachments when it appeared. That's scary if you don't trust Him! - which, fortunately, they both do!
As for me, I was led to get the applications for retirement for disability from my teaching position last month - but the problem is the timing. I'm supposed to be off the job for five full months without pay before they send an evaluator to decide if I'm off legitimately or just lazy or faking it or whatever. In the meantime, how do I live for five months without an income? And with four children and (soon) a wife? Partly, the "wife" part may help, as well as if they wait until summer, the district might "lump-sum" the remainder of my pay and sever our contract in June. That would allow for three months of income in hand, I could retire in June, and then stretch the last two months out with the help of my new wife's job - especially if we get married this summer as we plan to.
But the real issue is this: is this God's Will for me, to retire so that I have more free time to do for Him? Or is this just me wussing out on the effort it takes to teach in my current condition?
What part of this is God and what part is me? That's the eternal question.
Am I just being insecure about my qualifications, as Moses was? Or - well, it would be nice to have a burning bush and a definitive message from the Lord Himself as proof that it's really His Message.
No comments:
Post a Comment