Slow of Speech
This post is one of at least 2 posts planned in response to a request from a reader to discuss the Exodus. I don’t know if this is what he had in mind, but this is what I have to write on the subject.
When God calls us to do something, He always empowers us to do what He commands.
Slow To Write
When I started college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was interested in almost everything. The only two things I knew I wouldn’t major in were medicine and English. Although I am very interested in health and medicine, I don’t do needles or blood, so being a doctor was not an option. Although I loved reading, I hated writing, so I knew I wouldn’t be an English major. I ended up getting a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a minor in business. God, however, had other plans.
I used my engineering degree for less than 8 years. Then my husband and I bought a motorsports dealership and I did the accounting for the business. That was somewhat using my minor. Now God has taken me in an entirely different direction that I never would have picked for myself. I am now a writer. I have my Trust Jesus blog on which I post twice a week and I’ve written two books (working on a third). I never would have imagined becoming a writer. In fact, I fought it for a while, but God did not give up on me and I finally submitted and what a blessing it has been! I’ll never be the most popular Substack writer or the most successful author, but I am right where God told me to be and He has enabled me to do what He called me to do.
An Uninspiring Start
There is another person in the Bible who was reluctant to follow God’s calling, but when he did, amazing things were done through him.
Moses was brought up in the house of Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, the most important country in the ancient world. He seems to have been told he was the child of an Israelite and one day, when he saw an Israelite being beaten, he killed the Egyptian who was doing the beating. When he realized his actions were known, he fled the country and ended up working as a shepherd for a Midianite.
Based on Moses’s beginnings, nobody would’ve thought, “this man will do great things,” or “God will work amazing miracles through this man,” but of course He did.
The Calling
Moses’s life changed when God spoke to him in the burning bush. God met Moses where he was and didn’t wait until Moses had the heart, mind, and skills to do what God had planned.
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.” (Exodus 3:1-9)
At this point, Moses was curious about what he was seeing and hearing, but he definitely wasn’t expecting this encounter to change everything about his life. He had not submitted to God, repented of his sins, or decided to follow God. All he wanted was to check out this strange sight, but God had a better plan for his life. Moses just didn’t know it yet.
Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)
I’ve very strongly felt God’s leading, but I’ve never heard God audibly speak to me, but God audibly spoke to Moses from a burning bush that didn’t burn away. Did Moses fall on his face in awe? No. Did he instantly submit to God? No.
Fear & Doubts
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)
Moses basically replied to his creator that he couldn’t do it and that God had the wrong man. How often do we do likewise? Luckily, God doesn’t give a command and walk away. He is with us, empowering us, all of the way.
And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)
God didn’t leave Moses in disgust for not trusting Him. Instead God gave him two promises, – “I will be with you” and “you shall [return to] worship God at this mountain.”
Moses did not know what to speak or how to say it, so God told him exactly what to say. All Moses had to do was obey, but Moses still questioned God. He was more afraid of people than he was of his God who spoke audibly out of a burning bush.
Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ” (Exodus 4:1)
We are blessed to have a merciful and patient God, who instead of acting in wrath at Moses’s fear and whining, gave Moses the power to do powerful miracles, like turning his staff into a serpent and making his hand leprous and then healing it. This was still not enough for Moses.
Don’t Send Me
Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)
Moses was telling his creator what he was and was not able to do. I think we all know that God knows exactly what Moses’s capabilities are much better than Moses knows himself. Of course we can’t be too judgmental towards Moses, because we all do the same thing in our lives in some way or another.
The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12)
Our merciful God again reminds Moses of His power and knowledge and once again consoles Moses with the promise “I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” Despite all of the signs and wonders, mercy and promises, Moses still tries to refuse and get God to send someone else.
But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” (Exodus 4:13)
Finally God starts to get angry. (I’m sure I would have gotten angry faster and been less merciful. Luckily I am not God.)
Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. (Exodus 4:14-16)
I can’t say I recommend refusing God like Moses did. I think things would have gone better for the Israelites if Moses had completely submitted to God’s will (remember Aaron & Miriam standing up to Moses’s authority or Aaron making a golden calf for the Israelites to worship), but God was merciful and used what Moses offered. God is able to free His people from the most powerful nation in the world with a fearful man who is only partially submitted His will.
A Reluctant Servant
Finally Moses obeyed God’s command to go back to Egypt and to free the Israelites. This small submission was used by God to get the Israelites released, lead them through the Red Sea, give them His law, and lead them to the promised land. Moses started with a fearful, partial submission, but as he saw God’s power and faithfulness, he grew in confidence to become one of the most revered men in the Bible and the author of several books in the Old Testament.
In the same way, we may start small. We may be fearful, doubting, and only partially obeying, but God can still use us to accomplish His will. As we obey God and see His faithfulness and power, we too can grow in our faith and obedience and become more and more effective in the Lord’s work.
May God empower you for the work He created you to accomplish. May He help you hear His calling clearly. May He give you the strength, courage, skills, and ability to fulfill His calling to the fullest. May your faith and obedience grow continually as you are sanctified into the holiness of Christ.
Trust Jesus
All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.
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