EXODUS 4:10: “But Moses pleaded with the Lord, ‘O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” NLT

OBSERVATION: Have you ever been asked to do something by the Lord and you wondered, “How can I do that? I am not qualified. I don’t have the skills. Many other people could do it better.” Yet, you know that God has called you, and you are faced with the question,

Will I trust God or succumb to my own fear?

When we think about the fathers of our faith, we forget that they were mere humans just like us. Have you ever read a biography and thought, “Wow, my life does not measure up to that!” Yet, the Bible does not only record the highlights of a person’s life. It also records their honest struggles, doubts, and mistakes. Such it is with the life of Moses.

Imagine for a moment that you were on a walk in the country, and you encountered a burning bush. Suddenly, God speaks to you from this bush and calls you to do something that was once in your heart but that you had failed to do out of fear. When God meets you, you have been in hiding for almost a lifetime. This is what happened to Moses as he met God at Mt. Sinai.

God not only met with Moses at the burning bush, but He also met Moses with His calling and His provision. Think about this.

• The Lord revealed His covenant name to Moses.
• The Lord turned Moses’s staff from a mere shepherd’s staff to the Rod of God.
• The Lord gave Moses a total of three miraculous signs to prove to the nation of Israel that God had met him.
• The Lord called Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand that God’s people be allowed to go into the wilderness to worship Him and to offer sacrifices.

What more could Moses need? Moses, as a young man, had desired to come to the aid of his fellow Israelites. Yet, out of fear, after the event with the Egyptian, Moses fled to Midian, where he tended sheep for 40 years. All of his upbringing in Egypt, all of his dreams as a young man, had died in the wilderness. Now, God was resurrecting his dreams, calling him once again, confirming his call with miraculous signs, and how does Moses respond?

“…O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” Exodus 4:10 NLT

How does God reply?

Exodus 4:11-12: “Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” NLT

It would be wonderful if the story took a turn there. However, Moses continues to doubt. He continues to ask God to use someone else. By now, if you are like me, you are thinking. “Wow, Moses! What is wrong with you anyway? What else do you need?”

The wonderful thing is God did not give up on Moses, and He does not give up on us. Someone has wisely said, “Where God guides, He provides.” God could have simply moved on from His call to Moses and chosen someone else. This is not what happened. God gave Moses his brother Aaron as his spokesman and helper. The Lord met Moses at the point of his weakness with the provision needed to fulfill His call for Moses’ life!

This is the Gospel! This is the Good News! None of us was seeking God. None of us feels adequate to serve God. Yet, God reaches down to us with the gift of Jesus Christ for our salvation and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for our provision. God not only calls us, but He also saves us, equips us, empowers us, encourages us, and works through us!

“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NLT

“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:12-13 NLT

Dear friend, what is God calling you to do? Whatever it is, He has already lined up all the provisions you need to fulfill this call. When God called Moses, He did not ask him to be something he was not. God simply said to Moses, “What is in your hand?” The Lord took what Moses already possessed and empowered it for the work He was calling him to do. And, whatever Moses lacked, God also provided.

The hardest part of obedience is the first step. Right now, the Holy Spirit is reminding you of a step the Lord is calling you to take. It is not an accident that you are reading this post. If God can use a fearful shepherd hiding in the wilderness of Midian, He can use you and me.

All we need to do is take the first step!

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.” Philippians 4:19-20 NLT

In Jesus’ Name!