Day 334: "Now Therefore Go, And I Will Be With Your Mouth"
Read: Exodus 3:1 - 14; 4:1 - 17
In the course of my studies of the Book of Exodus I came across this
quote, "God’s will done in God’s way will not lack God’s support!" I
went back and re-read the story of Moses standing before God on the mountain trying to beat back the will of God with an array of one excuse after the other why he was not the one to return to Egypt to
deliver God's people from bondage. I got to thinking about the reasons that Moses used trying so hard to get out of going. Why is it that we ourselves refuse to listen to our parents or our teachers our supervisors when they say go and do this
and go and do that? Perhaps he just wasn't so eager to feel like he was
prepared to be volunteered.
And so when there is a need, when
somebody seems to believe we should volunteer, what goes on in our
own minds? What stirs in our memories? When it is time to step up and meet a
challenge, we think we should, but we hope we don’t have to. We think
we maybe could, but then we suspect maybe we couldn’t. When it is time
to be really
available, we know we know deep in our hearts that
sincerely we shouldn’t feel this way, but we do want to say, “please
send someone else.” Anyone but me, please. I know these lines very well
from 18 years in the Navy and the Army where the first thing you hear
from anybody is never volunteer and never let yourself be volunteered.
Moses had lived a rather unusual life. In fact, it was nothing short of
a miracle that he was alive at all. Born into slavery, into a Hebrew
family at a time when the powers that be in Egypt were threatened by
the strength of their slaves, Moses should have been destroyed, along
with a host of other young boys. But he was not. By the grace of God and
the ingenuity of his mother, he was given not only his life, but was
also an exceptional training, right in Pharaoh’s palace. Moses, like
a lot of people, then made a mistake. A big mistake. Not just any
little boo-boo, but a significant, life - changing blunder. He killed a
man. Now it was time for Moses to come face to face with God.
God had other things in mind for Moses. God wanted Moses to volunteer to
free His people. God expected Moses to be available for liberation.
Moses knew he should be available, and so he spoke up, “Here I am”. And
yet at the same time Moses was not so sure he really wanted to be a
volunteer. Even while the words, “Here I am” were coming out of Moses’
mouth, he felt self-doubt, felt uncertainty, he felt unreadiness. I am
prepared to say that doubting ourselves is actually a very valuable part
of being available for God’s causes. Moses doubted himself; that’s a
good thing. It made him available to be used of God, not for himself,
but volunteered for God’s very own purposes.
Let Us Pray: God, I sit here believing I am prepared to be volunteered for service to your kingdom. Like Moses, I have much trepidation even when I am full in your great presence. I am eager to engage in the calling you have set aside for
me, but I am also quite scared because I believe more in the power and
might of my frailties than in your strength, in your grace, in your
infallible unfailing promises. Nobody can truly be totally prepared,
totally ready to give of themselves completely to the service of your
kingdom, for man is ever to be more determined to be and remain bogged
down in their own ways. It is always so much more of a struggle for
us to believe we should simply disengage from the world we have made and crafted with our own two
hands. To simply volunteer to just tear ourselves down that we might
somehow allow you the time to build us back up is inconceivable. God, I pray that you'll set my confidence on a rock that will always be higher than I.
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Exodus 3:1 - 14; 4:1 - 17
In the course of my studies of the Book of Exodus I came across this quote, "God’s will done in God’s way will not lack God’s support!" I went back and re-read the story of Moses standing before God on the mountain trying to beat back the will of God with an array of one excuse after the other why he was not the one to return to Egypt to
deliver God's people from bondage. I got to thinking about the reasons that Moses used trying so hard to get out of going. Why is it that we ourselves refuse to listen to our parents or our teachers our supervisors when they say go and do this and go and do that? Perhaps he just wasn't so eager to feel like he was prepared to be volunteered.
And so when there is a need, when somebody seems to believe we should volunteer, what goes on in our own minds? What stirs in our memories? When it is time to step up and meet a challenge, we think we should, but we hope we don’t have to. We think we maybe could, but then we suspect maybe we couldn’t. When it is time to be really
available, we know we know deep in our hearts that sincerely we shouldn’t feel this way, but we do want to say, “please send someone else.” Anyone but me, please. I know these lines very well from 18 years in the Navy and the Army where the first thing you hear from anybody is never volunteer and never let yourself be volunteered.
Moses had lived a rather unusual life. In fact, it was nothing short of a miracle that he was alive at all. Born into slavery, into a Hebrew family at a time when the powers that be in Egypt were threatened by the strength of their slaves, Moses should have been destroyed, along with a host of other young boys. But he was not. By the grace of God and the ingenuity of his mother, he was given not only his life, but was also an exceptional training, right in Pharaoh’s palace. Moses, like a lot of people, then made a mistake. A big mistake. Not just any little boo-boo, but a significant, life - changing blunder. He killed a man. Now it was time for Moses to come face to face with God.
God had other things in mind for Moses. God wanted Moses to volunteer to free His people. God expected Moses to be available for liberation. Moses knew he should be available, and so he spoke up, “Here I am”. And yet at the same time Moses was not so sure he really wanted to be a volunteer. Even while the words, “Here I am” were coming out of Moses’ mouth, he felt self-doubt, felt uncertainty, he felt unreadiness. I am prepared to say that doubting ourselves is actually a very valuable part of being available for God’s causes. Moses doubted himself; that’s a good thing. It made him available to be used of God, not for himself, but volunteered for God’s very own purposes.
Let Us Pray: God, I sit here believing I am prepared to be volunteered for service to your kingdom. Like Moses, I have much trepidation even when I am full in your great presence. I am eager to engage in the calling you have set aside for me, but I am also quite scared because I believe more in the power and might of my frailties than in your strength, in your grace, in your infallible unfailing promises. Nobody can truly be totally prepared, totally ready to give of themselves completely to the service of your kingdom, for man is ever to be more determined to be and remain bogged down in their own ways. It is always so much more of a struggle for us to believe we should simply disengage from the world we have made and crafted with our own two hands. To simply volunteer to just tear ourselves down that we might somehow allow you the time to build us back up is inconceivable. God, I pray that you'll set my confidence on a rock that will always be higher than I.
http://www.youtube.com/
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