Connected in The Word 11-4-25
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 3:11-12
When God sets a task before me, I tend to mess it up in one of two ways. Sometimes I’m skilled enough to mess it up in both ways. The tasks God gives me are not out of this world crazy. He’s not telling me to bring His people out of Egypt like He was telling Moses to do. He simply tells me to trust in His promises of mercy and grace given to me in and through Jesus as I receive His Gifts, confess my sins, love my neighbor, care for creation, and share the Name of Jesus in the context of my many vocations in life. It shouldn’t be that hard, but again I mess it up.
I like Moses try to convince God that I am not the man for the job, because after all, I am a broken sinner. How could I be expected to love and care for others as a husband, dad, son, pastor, brother, and friend? However, playing the “But God I’m a Sinner” card didn’t work for Moses, and it doesn’t work for us. God reminded Moses that He would go with him. It was God doing the work, not Moses. As we love and care for others, it is God doing the loving and caring through us. We all need to throw away the “But God I’m a Sinner” card!
But remember there’s another way I mess things up as well. In the times when I am obedient to God’s call to love and care for others in my various vocations in life, I am tempted to pat myself on the back for a job well done. I wonder if Moses thought he was hot stuff as he led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea? In the verse above we again see that God wasn’t going to let Moses think he was something more than what he was. God told Moses that after the people came out of Egypt that they would worship Him back at this mountain. It wasn’t about Moses, it’s not about me, and it’s not about you. It is God who calls, God who works, God who equips, and God who saves. He just chooses to let us come along for the ride.
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