Since I'm, you know, too busy to do a proper post, I thought I'd share an answer of mine from the 'Taking It Personally' section of my Old Testament Survey class. The topic was the Exodus, and here is something fresh I got out of it upon reflection, and something that applies as I prepare for Saturday:
For me, God’s initial exchange with Moses through a burning bush is something I continue to learn from to this day. Before this special encounter took place, Moses had gone from being a somebody in the house of Pharaoh to being a nobody in the wilderness. He left the courts of Egypt, and joined himself with the Hebrew slaves. Upon murdering an Egyptian, he fled to the wilderness, where I’m sure he suffered much trial and hardship. But such things served only as preparation for the task ahead.
One of my favourite films as a child was the epic – and I mean epic – “The Ten Commandments” directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Having watched it again for nostalgia’s sake in the past year, I was struck by a piece of narration added in to progress the story. When describing Moses’ predicament upon fleeing Egypt and entering the wilderness, the narrator says in that deep tone of his:
Profound words, and probably a reasonable description of Moses’ state when he encountered God that life-changing day.
From Moses’ response to God, it’s clear that he felt pretty useless, pretty unqualified, though we can be sure that he was well educated and trained from his time in Egypt. However, his time in Egypt was in the past, and his present condition was less than pristine, which was why he was so hesitant to obey God.
God had different ideas though. Moses’ weaknesses were in fact his strengths. As we read in Corinthians, “God chose the weak of this world to shame the strong”. It was only when he was at the end of his own strength that “the metal was ready for the Maker’s hand” so to speak. Moses might not have understood this, but God surely did.
I would do well to remember and live out this truth in my own life. So often I’ll either charge in to do “God’s work” on my own strength, or I’ll shy away from doing the will of God because I don’t think I’m qualified enough to do it. God sees things differently though. He doesn’t pretend not to see my weaknesses. He doesn’t just make me stronger. More than that, He is my strength.
When Moses asked God “Who am I?”, God’s reply was not “You’re Moses, the great leader”. It was simply “I will be with you”. God never tells someone to do something in their own strength. He promised to be with Moses, and He promises to be with me when I step out in obedience. As Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “He who calls you will do it, because He is faithful.”
There is great comfort to be found in reading God’s exchange with Moses in Exodus 3 and 4. The comfort of knowing that my weakness doesn’t only not disqualify me, but it actually qualifies me; the comfort of knowing that God’s power is always available to me when I chose to obey His will.
(Dr Arden Autry summed this up as only he can by quoting from a teaching he heard recently - "God has no problem with human weaknesses, only human strength")
For me, God’s initial exchange with Moses through a burning bush is something I continue to learn from to this day. Before this special encounter took place, Moses had gone from being a somebody in the house of Pharaoh to being a nobody in the wilderness. He left the courts of Egypt, and joined himself with the Hebrew slaves. Upon murdering an Egyptian, he fled to the wilderness, where I’m sure he suffered much trial and hardship. But such things served only as preparation for the task ahead.
One of my favourite films as a child was the epic – and I mean epic – “The Ten Commandments” directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Having watched it again for nostalgia’s sake in the past year, I was struck by a piece of narration added in to progress the story. When describing Moses’ predicament upon fleeing Egypt and entering the wilderness, the narrator says in that deep tone of his:
He is driven onward through the burning crucible of desert, where holy men and prophets are cleansed and purged for God's great purpose, until at last, at the end of human strength, beaten into the dust from which he came, the metal is ready for the Maker's hand.
Profound words, and probably a reasonable description of Moses’ state when he encountered God that life-changing day.
From Moses’ response to God, it’s clear that he felt pretty useless, pretty unqualified, though we can be sure that he was well educated and trained from his time in Egypt. However, his time in Egypt was in the past, and his present condition was less than pristine, which was why he was so hesitant to obey God.
God had different ideas though. Moses’ weaknesses were in fact his strengths. As we read in Corinthians, “God chose the weak of this world to shame the strong”. It was only when he was at the end of his own strength that “the metal was ready for the Maker’s hand” so to speak. Moses might not have understood this, but God surely did.
I would do well to remember and live out this truth in my own life. So often I’ll either charge in to do “God’s work” on my own strength, or I’ll shy away from doing the will of God because I don’t think I’m qualified enough to do it. God sees things differently though. He doesn’t pretend not to see my weaknesses. He doesn’t just make me stronger. More than that, He is my strength.
When Moses asked God “Who am I?”, God’s reply was not “You’re Moses, the great leader”. It was simply “I will be with you”. God never tells someone to do something in their own strength. He promised to be with Moses, and He promises to be with me when I step out in obedience. As Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “He who calls you will do it, because He is faithful.”
There is great comfort to be found in reading God’s exchange with Moses in Exodus 3 and 4. The comfort of knowing that my weakness doesn’t only not disqualify me, but it actually qualifies me; the comfort of knowing that God’s power is always available to me when I chose to obey His will.
(Dr Arden Autry summed this up as only he can by quoting from a teaching he heard recently - "God has no problem with human weaknesses, only human strength")
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