Moses and the
Burning Bush…Exodus 4
Do you ever turn on your computer
and click on something to open it, like Word or Facebook all you see is the
little blue cursor spinning. If your like me you get angry. You ask it to do
one simple thing, something it is designed to do and you see it still spinning.
Maybe you get frustrated and just reboot, starting over.
Think God ever does that? Think He
ever gets angry at us just sitting there doing nothing when He has called us to
a specific task? I didn’t remember Him doing that but today I read Exodus 4.
You know, Moses and the burning bush? As I read I counted eight excuses Moses
made. God kept answering them
1. Who am I? (to do this for You)
2. They won’t believe me
3. Throw down your staff….ok, pick
up that snake (uh, I’m Presbyterian Lord, no snake handling)
4. Put your hand in your cloak,
becomes leperous, put it back, it’s restored (magician’s tricks Lord)
5. Pour water from Nile and it
turns to blood (blood, gross, how about wine)
6. I’m not eloquent (yet I know
how to use that big word properly)
7. I’m slow of speech (who made
your mouth? Who makes people blind, deaf and mute?)
8. Please send someone else
(Anyone!)
At this point the Lord’s anger
burned against Moses. I will be your mouth, I will teach you what to say. Right then, not coincidentally, Aaron who
speaks well, shows up. Moses, you speak
to him, put words in his mouth. I will be with you both and teach you what to
do and say.
Next time you see your mouse
clicker spinning, not doing what you ask it to do, be patient. What if He chose
to reboot you and start over like He almost did with Moses. What if He chose to harden your heart to His
Word like He did Pharaoh, making you unable to hear, see or respond to Him?
Beware. Some people just think or
write, while others actually do what God has called them to do and that is make
disciples. The assignments are seldom what we would choose to do. We will never
feel ready. We will always seem unprepared, thinking others are more qualified
than we are.
You see someone struggling,
heading toward divorce, you find out someone in your church is sick, you know
someone who is running as hard as they can from God, living a life worse than
an atheist and you think, I need to get our pastor to go see my friends.
No, my friend, God is calling you
in those situations. It may not be a dramatic burning bush in the desert with
audible words from our Lord but God put those opportunities on your plate. When
your realize that you go through the same excuses Moses did. Who am I? They
won’t believe me. I’m not eloquent. I am slow of speech. Please, Lord, send
someone else. Or, at least let someone else go with me.
Just remember, if He agrees to
send someone with you, He expects you to teach them what to say!
Oh,
and as for the 'parlor' tricks of snakes and blood, He has given us much better
ones. He promises to put His Word in our hearts. He promises to bring to our
remembrance His Word stored in our hearts. He has given us the Comforter to
live in us, guide us, convict us, encourage us. Moses, on that day, had none of
those things.
Here
is a link to the scat version of Moses and the Burning Bush. Actually sang this
in front of the congregation at Briarwood, in high school, 1977. Singing, in
front of an audience….true fear!
Is God asking you to do something
you fear you are unqualified to do. Congratulations! He is inviting you into a
deeper walk with Him. Need help finding resources for handouts, or someone to
walk with you through counseling someone else, or just someone to talk through
this struggle with you? We are here to help. Let us know how we can work and
pray with you. We have attached two articles you will find helpful when struggling
with what God has called you do
--
No comments:
Post a Comment