Friend to Friend

In my last devotion, we looked at Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush in Midian. God began by saying:

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them (Exod. 3:7–9, emphasis added).

This was sounding good to Moses! (And it sounds good to me!)

God sees!

God hears!

God is concerned!

God will rescue!

I imagine Moses’ heart was pounding, his pulse was quickening, his neck hairs prickling. Hope was rising! This was great news! Until the next few words rocked his world.

“So now go. I am sending you to the Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exod. 3:10, emphasis added).

Can’t you see Moses backing away from the bush . . . holding up his hands as in, “Whoa. Hold on here. You’ve got the wrong man for the job.”

His exact words were: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exod. 3:11)?

Every insecurity in Moses’ emotional storehouse rose to the surface. And in his fainthearted and half-hearted objections we discover answers to what keeps us stuck in milquetoast faith—what keeps us from moving forward to the land flowing with milk and honey, what keeps us from experiencing the wall-tumbling, giant-slaying, mountain-moving, lame-man-leaping, blind-man-seeing, loaves-and-fishes-multiplying, thriving faith.

Moses was stuck in the muck and mire of inferiority, insecurity, and inadequacy. He allowed his past failure to stand in the way of his future success. His measuring stick had gotten him stuck as he saw others as more qualified, sanctified, and fortified to do anything meaningful for God. He had lost his confidence and God was about to show him how to get it back. But this isn’t just Moses’ problem; it is a potential problem for you and me as well.

Did you notice that before God told Moses what He was going to do, He reminded Moses who He was? “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Then Moses replied, “Yeah, I got that, I know who You are, but who am I?”

That question is one of the most important you will ever ask. Your answer will affect the way to you look at life, tackle your troubles, and frame your circumstances. The answer to that question will determine your destiny. It can give you the confidence to accomplish your calling or take away your courage to even begin. If you don’t answer that question with the truth of God, the devil will answer it for you with his bag of lies.

What do you think ran through Moses’ mind when God said, “Now go, I am sending you to the Pharaoh?” I imagine his life flashed before his eyes and he saw all the ways he had disappointed people in his past, not to mention the way he had disappointed himself.

You’ve got to be kidding! I am a murderer! I am a coward! I am a dirty rotten scoundrel! I am a wanted man! I am so messed up, used up, and fed up! No. No. No. You’ve made a mistake. You’ve got it all wrong. You’ve got the wrong man for the job.

How many times have I reacted similarly to Moses? Perhaps you have too. As soon as God reveals what He has planned for you to do, the devil reminds you of your past failures and missteps. And I’m not talking about just the mistakes you made before you came to Christ, but also the ones you’ve made since you came to Christ. The times you did not flee from temptation but walked right into it, did not hold your tongue but lashed out in anger, did not wait on God but rushed in to take matters in you own hands. Those are the ones the enemy really likes to throw in your face.

And we ask the questions:

Who am I that I should go to the Pharaoh?

Who am I that I should write a book?

Who am I that I should start a business?

Who am I that I should start a ministry?

Who am I that I should be a teacher?

Who am I that I should help orphans overseas?

And God replies, “You are who I say you are.”

So here’s your question for today…will you believe Him?

Let’s Pray

Lord, so many times I’m like Moses. I sense you calling me to do something wonderful, something risky, something beyond my ability. And then I say, “Who am I that I could…?” Lord, help me to believe that I am who You say that I am, and that I can do what You say I can do. Help my unbelief, my shaky knees, and my weak hands. For I know that my weakness is made perfect in Your strength.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

What is one time when you sensed God calling you but you ignored the call because you didn’t feel qualified?

What is one time when you sensed God calling you and you move forward in faith even though you didn’t feel qualified?

I’d love to hear your answers. You can email me at Sharon@sharonjaynes.com.

More from the Girlfriends

Today’s devotion was taken from my new book, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go, Move Forward. Live Bold. On the outside, many of us are well-put-together churchgoers with trendy shoes, beautiful families, and wide, white smiles. On the inside, we’re little girls hesitating at the edge of the playground, wishing we could join in, but feeling something’s not quite right. We don’t know how to truly take hold of the “life to the full” that Jesus offers us. So we settle for a life that’s . . . less.

But a mediocre, mundane faith is not your destiny! In Take Hold of the Faith You Long For, I reveal the most common reasons we get stuck in our Christian faith. I show you how to break free of all that holds you back, move forward with all that God promises, and live the adventurous faith of bold believing. It’s time to leave behind feelings of inferiority, insecurity, and inadequacy that hold you hostage and take hold of the mountain-moving faith God intends. You were meant for more…take hold of God’s trust and thrive!