Originally published Tuesday, 29 December 2015.
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Exodus 3:10-12
After all these years, Moses just didn’t know anymore: "Who am I that I should go?" he asks.
And I wonder, what had become of the impulsive, passionate Moses that murdered the Egyptian in effort to right the wrongs he saw around him? How does he now shy away from delivering his people?
It seems as though Moses recognized now what he, in immaturity, had passed over years before:
Recognizing injustice isn’t the same as effectively working under God’s authority to bring about His righteousness.
Somehow, forty years of desert-living in Midian had cured Moses of his own plans to right the world and defend his people. But, the problem is, Moses traded unrestrained passion for passive disbelief that God would even want to work through him at all.
Do we ever act like Moses, vacillating between two extremes? On one hand, and in immaturity, we can expel all kinds of energy to fight injustice without even a slight surrender to God's timing or plan. Or, we can step back, way back, and just mull passively over why we don’t believe God would want us to step up anyway.
In Moses' case and in our own, responding to God's call ultimately requires submission to His rule. It doesn't highlight the injustice, but the Judge. It doesn't fixate on our inadequacies, but on Jehovah-Jireh, the One who provides.
Surrender doesn't ask: who am I? Surrender knows who is God.
Prayer
Lord, we praise you - the Great I Am, before us and behind us, and in everything sovereign over us. Today, will you help us to surrender to your purpose? Guard us from responding to your call in impatient immaturity or hardened doubt. Keep us willing, open, and steady under your hand. Thank you, Jesus, amen.
31 Days of Purpose: Devotions from the early life of Moses
From a boat-basket to a burning bush, Moses’ call to leadership is filled with everyday people and situations, all divinely orchestrated for God's divine purpose. As we study the early years of Moses, we see a consistent theme of God raising up the unlikely and transforming the average with His anointing. That's me, and that's you - common people, yet commissioned for a high calling. Let's step into it this together. Click here for the whole series.
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