“But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:13 NIV
Clearly this one is not an excuse but I believe it needs to go with the others because it may give some clarity to why Moses was giving the other excuses. He simply did not want to do this, he was not willing. Moses had given God 4 excuses at this point and God had given Moses 4 responsible solutions, so having no more excuses to give, Moses finally tells God what he real issue with following God’s will is in this moment. He was not willing.
I don’t believe that Moses could say to God from the beginning of the conversation ‘I don’t want to do this’, but he finally did. We are not sure exactly what Moses was thinking as to why he did not want to do what he was being asked to do, it could have been a variety reasons. Anyone of the 4 excuses he gave, that we already discussed, fear of having to answer for the murder he committed, or simply wanting to live the calm life he had built in Median could have all been reasons or part of the main reason. We will never know, but we do know that Moses did not want to go, he was simply not willing.
I believe we all have that moment when we just don’t want to do something, whether it is get up and go to work or something that God is directing us to do, we all have our reasons. However, if we are truthful and honest with ourselves sometimes we simply do not want to do what is being asked of us, we are simply not willing.
There are reasons behind us not wanting to do or being willing to do the things of life, such as go to work, clean the house or have a hard conversation with someone, but when we put God in the mix as the One asking us to do something, we need to look at the idea of our faith. Is our faith the reason we are not willing? Do we feel our faith isn’t strong enough to trust God that what He is asking will be done by His power and might and not our own?
Stepping out in faith and obeying God is not always simple for us, it should be, but it isn’t. How do we resolve the issue of us wanting to please God, follow His will and and at the same time deal with our fear of not failing, not looking stupid, not having the right words, of simply feeling that we are not enough? I encourage everyone, myself included, to accept the fact that we are not enough, not on our own. We need God in our lives, and with Him in our lives, we are enough because He gives us His power, words, abilities to do whatever He asks of us.
So, as we close this chapter of excuse giving, my question for everyone is simply this….When God asks, directs or prompts you in a direction that is uncomfortable, is your response to Him a response of acceptance or a response of excuses?