“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 NIV
I have talked about being willing before and the idea of saying that you are willing to do something and the actual act of doing it being two different things. Over the next several days, I want to look at some of the excuses we tend to use when we are not ready or not willing to be obedient to God and His calling. The first excuse is that ‘I am not good enough to do what is being asked of me.’
Moses gave God several excuses about why God should pick someone else to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. In the verse for today Moses asks God “Who am I,” Outside of some nerves, I believe that Moses felt like he wasn’t good enough to do what the Creator of the world was asking him to do. I know that I have felt that way at times, and one of those times was when I wrote my book. I didn’t feel like I had any authority or specialized education to write a book that could influence people if they read it.
I was right in that I had no authority or specialized education to write the book but what I did have, was God. I believe that God led me to write the book and I rest now in the fact that God has the authority to have people who have no specialized training or education do things that society would not dream of having them do.
In the next verse, which is not listed above, God tells Moses that he won’t be alone. God says, “I will be with you”. Leading God’s people out of Egypt was not dependent on Moses and his ability to convince pharaoh or his ability to be a leader to thousands of people, it was ALL dependent on God and His ability, which is far greater than anything we can ever imagine.
When I felt led to write my book, I gave God this exact excuse. I asked Him, ‘who am I to write a book?’ and although I did not audibly hear God say that He would be with me during this adventure, I knew in my heart that God would not ask me to do something and then leave me as I was doing it. It took some time for me to abandon this excuse because I was scared, scared that because I didn’t have special training I could write something that was wrong and that I would not be taken seriously.
What I came to realize is that no matter what God is asking me or anyone else to do, once you are willing to actually do it, you discover that God doesn’t leave you alone in the task. He did not leave Moses alone to face Pharoah and He will not leave us alone. He knows we don’t have the ability or power or persuasion or strength to do what He is asking us to do by relying only on ourselves. If God has asked you to do something, He will provide the strength, power, resources and anything else you need to get it done for you. The main thing you need to have is the willingness to obey Him.