Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 3:10
Have you ever counted yourself out when it came to a sport, a job, or something else? I recently found myself making excuses during a workout class, thinking I could not complete the workout that I was supposed to complete. The instructor of the class reminded me that I could do more than I gave myself credit for. What I thought I could not do was actually just hard. As a result, I decided that I would try. Yes, what I was asked to do was hard, but I did it. I was more capable than I realized of completing the task in front of me. While there was little at stake if I had, indeed, counted myself out, there are circumstances where much is at stake if we do count ourselves out of completing a task, especially a task that God has given us. You see, when God gives us a task, He will help us complete it.
Moses understood what it was like to count oneself out. You see, Moses had been the adopted son of the daughter of Pharaoh. He was adopted because he was a Hebrew, and when he was a baby, Pharaoh had made a rule that any Hebrew boy born must be killed. He was scared of the Israelites because there were so many Hebrews, and he worried that the Hebrews would overtake Israel. In an effort to save His life, Moses' mom hid him in a basket and set the basket along the Nile River. Pharaoh's daughter found Moses and raised him as her own child. As Moses grew older, he saw the poor treatment of the Israelites. Exodus 2 tells us that when Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he "killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand" (verse 12). He tried to do it discreetly, but some of the Hebrews saw what happened (verses 12-14). Moses knew he had been caught and fled in fear. He fled to a place called Midian in an effort to start a new life (verse 15). It appears that Moses had counted himself out. He had committed murder, a sin that broke God's heart, angered the Egyptians, and caused fear in the hearts of the Hebrew people. God, however, was not done working in Moses's life.
Exodus 3 reveals that while Moses was taking care of his father-in-law's sheep, God appeared to Him through a burning bush. He said to Moses he had seen the mistreatment of the Israelites at the hands of the Egyptians and said, "Now go, for I am sending you to Pharoah. You must lead my people out of Egypt" (verses 9-10). God was not done with Moses and was telling Him not to count himself out. God was still going to use him to have a significant impact.
What about you? Have you counted yourself out? Maybe you think you have messed up too badly to be used by God and play an essential role in the story He is writing. Maybe you have tried to escape and flee and start over. Do not count yourself out yet! God can and will still use you if you are willing to obey and follow Him.
Have you counted yourself out to be used by God? If so, it is time to get in the game. Getting in the game begins with acknowledging the task that God has called us to do. Acknowledge to God the task you have been avoiding that you know He is calling you to do. Then, tell someone today what God has been asking you to do. These steps are the beginning of getting in the game, taking action, and obeying God.
Going Deeper - Exodus 3:1-10
"One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. 3 "This is amazing," Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it."
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
"Here I am!" Moses replied.
5 "Do not come any closer," the Lord warned. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord told him, "I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey-the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt."
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