Moses III

The final instalment to the tale of Moses’ call. Check out ‘Failure and Disappointment: Moses I’ and ‘Moses II’. So far we have seen that Moses’ life was one of failure and disappointment, BUT GOD… came to him, listened to him and then offered himself as a solution. **

Oddly enough, even though God listens to Moses’ pathetic excuses as to why he can’t go to Egypt and free the Israelites, he is not what we would think of as entirely sympathetic. He doesn’t pat him on the head and say, “oh poor Moses. Gee, you have had it tough! Alright, because you’ve already worked so hard for me, I’ll give you a break.”

If God did this, he would be agreeing with Moses when he said “I can’t do it, I’m not suited to the task, they won’t take you seriously.” But God doesn’t agree with those limitations. In fact, human limitations are nothing to God. They hold us back, but they don’t hold God back.

He actually does something better than sympathise. He says effectively, “you can do it because I’ll be doing it with you.” He offers details, proofs and strategies for how it’s going to work.

But the main thing is that he offers himself. He introduces himself: “I am who I am” and says: “I am going with you. I am going to do it for you.”

So Moses’ self-limitations are pointless.
He says ‘I can’t do it’. God says “I am going to do it”
He says ‘I don’t know enough”. God says, “I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
He says, “They won’t take me seriously.” God says, “They’ll take me seriously.”
He says, “I’m not suited to the task.” God says, “I’ll give you what skills and proofs you need.”
He says, “I just don’t want to do it.” God says, “I want you to, and I’ll do it with you.”

If you have had failures and disappointments and sins in the past, and if you are saying to God, “I can’t do it… I don’t know enough…. They won’t take me seriously… I’m not suited to the task…. I just don’t want to” then watch out!

God will confront you sometime. He knows your name, and he will introduce himself by name to you. He will allow you to speak your fears and your disappointments. He will offer himself to you as the solution. What solution is that?

First he will offer himself in the person of Jesus, who died for you, and who will forgive you if you accept it. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection deals with the most important problem of our lives – our rebellion against God and our sin against him. By trusting in Jesus, we are freed from our sin and become God’s friends. If you don’t really understand this, blog me!

But as if that wasn’t enough, God also will offer himself as your daily strength and energy, as your power and your source of life.

As well as that, he offers you a part in his plan for the world. Do you know what that plan is? I know! It’s to take the good news of Jesus to the entire world!

What’s your part? I don’t know. It might be simple. But it might also be something which you think you could never do! It will probably be exciting and not very safe. It will probably be something much grander than you could ever envision for yourself. It will be a part which uses both your gifts and your failures, but it will be a part which can only be undertaken if you accept the God’s gift of himself to you.

We all have to choose whether or not we will go ahead in God’s plan. Moses could have walked away. We could walk away too, but we’d be fools. Why live with those human limitations and self-doubts and beliefs cemented by a few failures and disappointments?

How much bigger and greater and grander to live, with God, despite those disappointments. How much cooler to get over that stuff, to accept both our gifts and failures and to draw on, lean on, nestle in God and his strength every single day, as we are part of God’s great plan of bringing people to himself.


** In case you're wondering, this blog is a shorter version of a talk I gave recently.