1.28.24 Willisburg Bulletin
Surrendered Obedience
Throughout the first few chapters of Exodus, Moses is chosen to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt, but repeatedly he makes up what we would call excuses to try to change God’s plan of who was going to lead the people. Moses was so focused on his weaknesses that he doesn’t grasp the fact God was going to equip him will all he needed to complete the task. God even told him all the reasons he could lead the people, yet he still finds other excuses. Yet, we are faced with similar situations and callings today and many times we fall right into the footsteps of Moses. We find every little thing that we think could possibly hinder us to stop the plan. How many times do we reject God’s plan because we think we aren’t able to do … because of …, not even realizing that through Christ we can do … and that God will provide and be our strength when we are weak. God doesn’t require perfection; He seeks surrendered obedience from us to build His kingdom. We must allow our confidence in God to bolster above any of our fleshly weaknesses and worship Him for who He is. At the end of Exodus four, the Israelites worshipped the great I AM not out of a response for what God had done for them (because the deliverance had not even occurred yet), but because they trusted fully in who God was, and believed God’s promises would come to fruition.
Moses Excuses
Immediately after God told Moses he was going to be the leader, he said, “who am I that I should go?” As if he was saying he was a nobody and he isn’t a leader so how would this happen. But God assured him, He would be right beside him and it would be a sign for Moses. Still, he didn’t have the confidence and said the Israelites would want to know who gave him the authority. God gives Moses a direct answer and tells him exactly what to say. He even explains what is going to happen in the coming days, down to the details of the days journeying and that the king of Egypt would have issue, but that God would make a way. But Moses still is hesitant saying “what if the people they won’t believe or listen to me.” As if he was saying he feared the people and didn’t think anyone would follow this nobody. But God shows Moses this time by turning his rod into a serpent and made his hand leprous. Moses continues his excuses by saying “I’m not eloquent, I’m slow of speech,” as if he was saying, he is not adequate enough for the job because he isn’t a public speaker or able to talk to the people. But God asks Moses a rhetorical question, “haven’t I made your mouth” and then He lists people with actual handicaps – blind, deaf, mute, and says “I created them too.” Moses again finds something else to stop him by saying, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” As if he was saying, just send someone else, I can’t do it. Finally, God got angry at Moses, but still God gives Moses the command of leading, but says his brother, Aaron, would be going with him as the speaker. God wasn’t going to let him off the hook. Moses was going to lead God’s people out of Egypt.
Our Excuses
Can you see yourself in these excuses? Do you say… “I can’t do that, they will think I’m crazy. I don’t have the skills for that. I can’t lead singing/ class. There’s someone else better, just give it them.” God calls us to lead the people of the world to Christ. Are you making excuses and rejecting God’s plan? Are you trying to think of things to say to give that job to someone else? Have you even considered that you can because Phil 4:13 – you have Christ and His strength. Nothing will stop God’s plan from happening. So we need to learn to stop making excuses, suck it up as our parents would say, and get busy being about our Father’s business, just as Jesus and Isaiah said, “send me.”