Who Me?

I was reading through Exodus recently, reading the account of Moses and the burning bush. Here is Moses, once an Egyptian Prince, now an outcast shepherd. He’s taking care of the sheep on an ordinary day when something very extraordinary happens. He sees a bush burning, but it never burns up. A voice- it is God speaking to him out of the bush! Not only does God speak, He gives signs: a rod that turns into a snake, a hand with leprosy restored. And then Moses receives a call, an instruction, to go to Pharaoh. God promises that He is going to deliver Moses’s people who have been in slavery all these years!

You would think that Moses would jump at the chance to be used of God in this way. After all, not everyone is hand-picked by God for such a wonderful mission! But here is Moses’s response:

Exodus 4:13And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].

Even after God’s reassurance, Moses has several more arguments. He is finally persuaded to go when He has Aaron, his brother as backup!

Now it is easy to criticize Moses. It is easy to look at the situation with amazement. Why would Moses refuse this call of God?

But, I am all too aware that I sometimes do the same thing. I KNOW what God wants me to do, but I argue. It is too difficult. It is too time-consuming. It will not be very rewarding. I am not prepared.

Later there is another man given a task by God. It is a task that he knows will be hard and thankless, but he responds in a much different way. Isaiah is the man, and he responds this way:

Isaiah 6:8bThen said I, Here am I; send me.

I pray that I may respond in that way when God calls me. I pray that I will answer the call in obedience and faith.

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