Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” Exodus 4:11-12
I recently lost my keys, which escalated into a chain of events that led to a total fiasco. After I found my keys and things became calmer, my sister asked me a question. “Where is the Tile keychain I gave you for Christmas?” A Tile keychain is a keychain that was created to help you find your keys when they are missing. If you have this device, when you cannot find your keys, you can use an app on your phone that will show you where your keys are via GPS and make a noise while searching for them. I was busted! She gave me a Tile keychain, and I had completely forgotten to set it up and attach it to my keys. I felt so bad I had forgotten about her gift. This situation reminded me of something: that keychain was given for a reason: to find missing keys. It was meant to be used. I had to decide what I was going to do with this gift. The same is true with the dreams, burdens, and gifts God has given us. He has gifted them. The question is, will we put them to use?
As we read through Exodus 3, it is clear that Moses was given a command from God: to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to a new land that had been promised to them. Moses also demonstrated a burden for the plight of the people of Israel held captive in slavery by the Egyptians. Moses had the dream, burden, and calling from God to help the Israelites, but he still had a decision to make when God spoke to Him directly, calling him to help the people of Israel. Would he go, or would he disobey God? Moses made excuses when God initially called him out of Egypt, much like I imagine I would have made excuses. He said to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people out of Egypt?” (verse 11). God responded to his protest, “I will be with you” (verse 12). Despite this promise, Moses still protested. He made excuse after excuse, but each step of the way, God reassured Moses of His presence and power. His persistence continued into chapter 4, and God continued promising His power and presence. He said to Moses, “Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say” (verse 12). He even provided Aaron to help him spread the message. Finally, he accepted God’s command and calling on his life: to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Just like Moses, we have all been given a calling from God. The question is, what will we do with that calling? Will we make excuses, or will we lean into God’s power in the areas where we feel weak? After all, God is a provider. When He gives us a dream, He will walk with us through it and provide His power when we feel weak. We have to decide what we will do with the dreams and burdens God places in our lives. What dream has God given you today? What will you do with it?
Hopefully, you have taken time to identify a burden or dream God has placed in your heart. This is something you know is from God in order for you to leave a lasting impact. Today, take a few minutes to think about the first steps you can take to act on the burden or dream that God has given you. Choose one step to take this week. After all, we are meant to do something with the burdens and dreams God has given us.
But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.
“Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.
Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.
“Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease. “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
The Lord said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign. And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”
But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”
But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”
So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt,” Moses said. “I don’t even know if they are still alive.”
“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
