Moses had major doubts about his ability to do what God asked of him during his meeting with God at the burning bush. His doubts are frankly not all that surprising. God regularly asks people to do big, hard things, and usually to do these things means going in directions where we feel weak and inadequate and where there is some risk to us.
Why does God do this? Couldn't he check out how we test out in our personality test and our strength finder quiz and then make sure that whatever he calls us to do lines up with where we feel the strongest and most comfortable? Well, the reason for this is because God is not looking for us to do things because of who we are but because of who he is. In everything he calls us to he wants us to have to "God up." By "God up" I am talking about doing things out of the fullness of the Spirit of God, where the question that constantly drives us is, "How much more can God do through me?" Where the big things that happen in our church and in our city do not make people more aware of how gifted and talented and strategic our church is but instead make people more aware of how gifted and talented and strategic God is! Where the people around us are sometimes dumbfounded that God could accomplish such big and amazing things in and through a humble, simple, even insignificant church like us. In so much of what we do we ask ourselves, "Can I do this? What do I bring to the table?" To get to the level of doing big Godlike things in our world, we must begin to say, "We've got God at the table! So let's go and do as much as he will let us do!"
Unfortunately, our strong natural bent is to become overwhelmed by fears and doubts that lead us to think that we really can't do all that God wants of us. These fears and doubts lead to a kind of spiritual paralysis. This is where Moses is at during his meeting with God. Moses gives three objections to what God wants in Exodus 4:1-17. In his mind these objections should show God that what he wanted of Moses did not fit with his strengths and his comfort level, so it made no sense for Moses to move forward in the direction to which God was calling him.
God though had answers for every one of Moses' objections, answers which we do well to consider when we begin to complain to God like Moses did.
Objection #1 is found in Exodus 4:1 - Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The Lord did not appear to you.' "
God answers this objection Exodus 4:2-8 by giving Moses powerful signs to perform that will validate him in front of his people. However, these signs are given so that the people will not necessarily believe in Moses but believe in God and believe that God is really with Moses (Exodus 4:5). Again, this is all about God, not Moses.
It is interesting to note here that these signs were to be done through the use of Moses' shepherd staff. This would have been an ordinary stick, certainly not the kind of thing you would expect a mighty magician to use. The Egyptian magicians would have had elaborate charms and staffs and they would perform their "magic" through special words and incantations.
God however has Moses use his simple shepherd's staff and then has him do only what he tells him to do, nothing more, nothing less. The emphasis throughout Moses' mission in Egypt will be on God. Moses will be proven to be God's leader not because of any fancy spells or techniques. He will be proven to be God's leader through God's power working through Moses' simple actions.
Objection #2 is found in Exodus 4:10 - But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
God's answer to this objection is very interesting. God doesn't say, "Man you're right. Let me send you to Toastmasters; they'll help you become a better public speaker. Oh, and here are some great books to read on public speaking." No, instead God tells Moses, "I'm the one who makes people able to speak! For that matter, I'm the one who makes people able to also hear or see!" (Exodus 4:11)
What was God doing here? He was once again emphasizing that doing big things in God's system depends not on us but on God. God makes this point by emphasizing his complete sovereignty over all things. This means then that God has complete control over human life, even specific aspects of human life like hearing and seeing and talking.
In hearing this we may be tempted to think that perhaps God has messed up a bit in how he made us. If he really is calling us to big things, then he should have given us a more engaging personality or intellectual ability or creative skill. We think to ourselves, "God, why did you make me this way? How can you expect me to talk to people about Jesus, or be a leader in my family and in my church, or to be a successful parent, when you made me this way?"
God's answer to Moses here is an answer to all these kinds of personal doubts and excuses. His answer is, "Yes, I made you. So who you are is no surprise to me! Now go and be who I've called you to be and do what I've called you to do, because I will be with you." Notice how in Exodus 4:12 God tells Moses that he will give him the words to speak and that he literally be "with his mouth" so that he can speak these words. God did not say, "Alright, I will take away your weaknesses so you can do what I need you to do." Instead, God leaves Moses' weaknesses in place and tells him to go, but with the conscious awareness that God is with him and that he will need to directly depend on God.
I believe God has designed each of us in uniquely imperfect ways so that have we will have regular opportunities to depend on God. 2 Cor 12:9 says as much. Our weaknesses are occasions for God's divine power to be perfected in us.
This is a new way to look at yourself. Instead of ignoring or being anxious about your weaknesses, you can look right at them and see them as unique, specially designed ways to "God up."
Objection #3 is found in Exodus 4:13 -
But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."
There are some who, no matter what is said to them, just don't want to do what God tells them to do. This is what Moses does here. He tells God, "Look, I don't want to do this. Send someone else!" It's possible to focus so much on yourself that your fears and doubts overwhelm you, to the point that you let them become the operational God ruling over your life.
God's response comes in v.14-17. He is obviously angry with Moses. He easily could have wiped the slate clean and moved on from Moses to someone else. Yet God shows grace towards Moses. He encourages him by promising that Aaron will go with him and be Moses' spokesman; Aaron will do the public speaking for Moses. However, it is worth mentioning that Aaron does this only in the beginning; eventually it is Moses that does all the speaking. This is because God's way will always win out in the end, even when we disobey him. It just means that we will miss out on knowing the fullest expression of God and his power working in our lives. Thankfully, God does not let go of his people. Notice in the end of the conversation, in v.17, God says, "Don't forget the staff. Because YOU WILL be doing the signs I've given you." God will still work through Moses, even if he's not still quite ready for the tasks set before him.
God does big things, and he intends to do them through his people, and intends to do them in ways that are often uncommon, surprising, unexpected, and risky. Basically, all the ways that will make it clear that what's happening is not based ultimately on you or me but on him. For if depended on us, the reality is that nothing would ever happen. The Bible describes all people as being naturally sinful, meaning that we naturally doubt and disobey God.
Thus, to expect much of sinners would be like expecting a drowning person to be able to go and save another drowning person. If you are drowning, you'll find it impossible to do anything else but be overwhelmed by your fears and anxieties caused by the fact that you are drowning. It is no surprise then that our doubts and fears and anxieties get in way of much of what God wants of us. All of us have pushed God out of the center of our lives, and by doing so we lost the anchor we needed to stay afloat and so we spend our lives adrift, slowly being suffocated by our sin. How then can God use anyone in this world in any significant way?
Well, God can use us, and it's because God sent someone into the world who never did push God out of the center of his life, someone who was perfectly obedient to God and so never went adrift. This someone was Jesus Christ. Since Jesus was perfectly obedient, he was able to answer God's call to do the biggest thing of all – give up his life - so that his obedient perfect life would make up the difference in our failure to do all that God wants. When we put faith in Christ, we are wholly changed so that we can be free from the downward drowning pull of sin and the constant echoes ringing in our minds that tell us that we aren't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough, important enough, or cool enough to do much in this life. This is because faith in Christ brings Christ into our life. And because Christ is the Son of God, that means we now have God in our life. Not just with us, but in us. Faith in Jesus then is the means by which every person can God up!
This makes the ultimate difference for us. Moses had the promise that God would be with him, which was a great promise, and it really was all he needed in order to do what God wanted. But through Jesus, we have the promise of God actually being in
our lives. So now we can truly do all that God calls us to. We can be salt of the earth. We can be God's witnesses. We can be God's ambassadors. We can speak and act with all boldness, even through our weaknesses.
And what people will notice when they interact with us is what they noticed when they interacted with Peter and John. In the eyes of that culture, Peter and John were uneducated, common men. They should not have been able to do the big and bold things they were doing. So what was the difference? The people "recognized that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)
Embrace all of how God has made you, especially your weaknesses. Bring them to the cross of Jesus; by doing so you are saying, "This can't be about me. It's got to be about you, and it's got to be about Jesus in me for you."
What kind of amazing surprises would God bring about in your life if every day, you took one big weakness or one big anxiety or one big doubt, gave it over to God, and asked him to transform it through Jesus into a big expression of God's power working through you?
It would be something special, wouldn't it?
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