Exodus 2:11-3:22
Matthew 17:10-27
Psalm 22:1-18
Proverbs 5:7-14
What a blessing. As I write this, I am sitting with my two sons, both
of whom are reading the Bible with me, entranced with the story of
Moses (and Joseph before that, and the cows and the stalks of grain).
A further blessing - I am reading Mark Betterson's "The Circle
Maker", and today went through a chapter that discussed Moses as well.
Moses is an interesting fellow. Saved from the fate of his fellow
Hebrews at birth, raised by Egyptians, he then goes and kills and
Egyptian when he thinks no one is looking, and then flees in fear when
he realizes people know what he's done - heart of a lion, that
one...which is why it shouldn't be a surprise that when God asks him
to do something, he balks. Let's think of this for a second - God is
giving him the opportunity to go do for all the Israelites what Moses
wanted to do for one of them - save them from the Egyptians. There's
a catch, though - he's got to go back and confront the king who wanted
to have him killed. Not only that, he has to tell him to let all
these Israelite slaves, upon whose service they have probably grown
dependent upon and comfortable with - he has to tell Pharaoh to let
them go free. And not only that - God is telling Moses that the
Israelites are going to plunder the Egyptians on their way out!
Now, it isn't like Moses isn't sure Who is speaking - I mean, he's
hearing a voice come from a burning bush that isn't being consumed by
the flames. He's hearing this Voice identify Himself - "I Am Who I
Am", the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But Moses - no lionheart,
he - balks. He hesitates. Perhaps in fear and doubt, he claims he
isn't competent to do what God asks. And you know what? He was
right. He wasn't competent. He wasn't qualified.
But it is interesting how Pastor Batterson explains this. You see,
God doesn't call the qualified. Think not only of Moses, think of
Isaac (remember the reality show "Keeping up with the Isaacs" from a
couple of weeks ago?); think of Peter - another lionheart that
one...walks on water, then doubts and sinks; declares loyalty to the
death, then denies Christ thrice; or of Saul - yeah, think of Saul.
If there was ever anyone who wasn't qualified for the job, it was Paul
who, as Saul, endorsed the stoning of Stephen and was on his way to
persecute Christians in Damascus! Yep, God certainly doesn't call the
qualified. See, as Pastor Batterson explains, He qualifies the
called. So He called Peter to be the first pope, who was no more than
a fisherman before he met Christ. And He called murderers - Moses and
Saul - to reach out to His people. He called the youngest son, the
shepherd in the family, to be king. None of them were qualified - not
until they were called.
We all have many roles in life. And if you are anything like me, you
have these moments of crystal, brutal clarity, where you realize you
have absolutely no credibility at any of these roles. I think about
it and I realize, what little insight I might have had into raising a
16 year old young lady became obsolete the day she turned 17; what
understanding I might have had about being a husband by watching my
father has at best limited value serving my wife, a woman different
from my mother; what experience I might have gained working at my job
for almost 20 years has been rendered useless when my responsibilities
changed. And then you think about the mistakes you've made, and they
serve as harsh confirmation of your fears of inadequacy and
unpreparedness.
Thankfully, we know that all these circumstances have been chosen for
us by God, out of His perfect plan for us. Which means that He called
us to all this. And since He called us to all this, we can rest
assured He will qualify us as well.
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