Moses Excuses
But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.” Exodus 3:11-12 (CSB)
When God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses made a lot of excuses. Instead of “Here I am LORD, send me!” Moses basically said, “There’s a lot of good reasons why I shouldn’t be the one, LORD.” Since we tend to do the same thing, we should remember how God responded to Moses.
Moses’ first excuse is: “I’m not qualified.” God’s response is: “I know. That’s why I’m coming with you.” Later in the Bible Moses is called the humblest man who ever lived. So, some might think Moses is just being humble here. I’ve got my doubts. Can you ever be humble, when you’re telling the God of the Universe that He’s made a mistake?
But when does God ever search for someone who is qualified? Who could ever be qualified for what Moses was being asked to do? God is looking for someone to stand up to the king of Egypt, tell him what to do, and convince him to let his huge workforce of slaves go free.
God knew Moses wasn’t qualified. That’s why he wasn’t sending him alone. God was planning to go with him. In your life God is going to send you places too. He’s going to give you responsibilities. He might even ask you to be a pastor or a teacher. God lays different responsibilities on all of us. But He won’t ask us to get the job done without Him. He’s coming with us.
Lord God, heavenly Father, speak to us and go with us to give us courage to say yes to your calling. Amen.