Hesitating Before God

Last updated on: June 2, 2018 at 1:45 pm by Jim Erwin

Hesitating Before God 2018-06-02T13:45:13-05:00 Jim Erwin

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Hesitating Before God

“But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant —because I am slow and hesitant in speech.” Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”” (Exodus 4:10–17, HCSB)

I don’t know about you, but when God tells me to do something big, my first inclination is to hesitate. “What? Are You sure about this God?” is usually the first thought that crosses my mind. The second sounds like this: “Are you out of Your mind, God?” It takes me some time to recognize “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Moses sounds like a familiar story in my life. God reveals Himself to Moses and shows him precisely what He is going to do. He tells Moses the entire plan for the delivery of the Israelites from the Egyptians. It is so amazing how detail God reveals to Moses. Look here, Moses. I am going to do these signs and wonders. But it won’t work. Eventually, I am going to have to do more to get the attention of the Egyptians. But when I do, they are going to give you everything of value before you leave. By the way, Moses, you will end up here with the Israelites and worship on this mountain.

Now if someone told me that much detail, I might be skeptical too. In today’s world, we get skeptical about the claims of many charlatans. Yet, Moses is uncertain whether he can do the task. This is another form of hesitation. God literally said that He would do all these things. But when He asks Moses to lead the people and be there as God does these miraculous acts, Moses doesn’t think he can do it. He throws up excuses to God: (1) This is too much for me – it is unbelievable; (2) I’m not good enough; (3) Get someone else. These three excuses are the most common excuses we use when God wants to me. If I can just see over my excuses, I just might be able to see how God is going to use me. Faith is the antidote to hesitation. I have to trust that God knows what He is doing and stop the excuses, and move forward with Him.

Photo by KEEM IBARRA on Unsplash

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