When the Lord called Moses to lead the Israelites to the promise land Moses responded, "Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?"
"I will be with you..."
"...But what should I say, if they ask me your name?"
"...So tell them that the Lord, whose name is "I Am" sent you... The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you must take them to the king of Egypt... But I know won't let you go... So I will perform all kinds of miracles.. Then the king will send you away."
"Suppose everyone refuses to listen to my message, and no one believes that you really appeared to me?"
The Lord the shows Moses two miracles and tells him about another.
"I have never been a good speaker. I wasn't one before you spoke to me and I am not one now."
"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 those things? Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words."
"Lord please send someone else to do it."
(From Exodus 3-4)
This sounds a little like my life right now, without the whole mass exodus from Egypt or the direct voice to voice communication with God. But it’s pretty close, in fact it sounds like my life at any given moment in time. Whether it’s God, myself, or someone else urging me forward it’s always met with resistance. Far too often when I feel the need to take action or move forward I find myself begging for someone else to move a lot faster than I am, and if no one runs by I beg for all the help that I can get.
Most of the time when I find myself desperately pleading to be freed from tasks that actually lead me towards my desired growth, I find that I am not thinking about it practically or realistically. Growing is hard and it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth the process. If I want to help people make it through school and calm stress and anxiety, then I have to make it through school and figure out ways to calm those feelings. I can’t coach someone through the process while I’m on the verge of dropping out.
How often do we do this in life? How much do we question the roads we have to take in order to grow and be who we want to be? Moses was looking at God's plan for him in terms of what he himself was capable of. Most of the time when I look at the challenges I face I’m too overwhelmed to think of what I can do and where I can get help. But Moses knew what he could do, he saw how he could grow, and he said no.
Moses was so afraid of what God was asking him to do that he nearly did not do it-- the people of Israel would have had to wait, the Red Sea may not have been split all because Moses was afraid to go and grow. Moses was not looking at God's mighty and endless power, he was focused on himself-- not on what he was able to do, but instead on how he felt. His feelings and perhaps laziness (more in reference to us) were about to get in the way of his role in this mighty plan. How often do we do that?
When you look at the challenges and responsibilities in your life are you depending on your own capabilities or are you relying on God with you whom we can do all things. Are you thinking of how you can grow or are you trying to take the easier route? At what point of these excuses will you find that fear and complacency place you exactly where you are in life? In order to move forward and reach your dreams, you have to be willing to grow.
