Devotion: FL-AWE-D: Holy Moses!
But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of theLord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.” Exodus 4:10-17
Holy Moses! We think of Moses as a super Bible hero. His name conjures up images of a leader, a prophet, an author and the giver of the Ten Commandments. Charlton Heston’s voice echoes in my brain. But wait, the scripture gives us a completely different picture of the human Moses.
Moses is just like 75% of the public. There is even a fancy name for it- “Glossophobia,” the fear of public speaking. It is the #1 fear, ranking above DEATH, spiders, darkness and heights! Moses says, “No!” to God even after God spoke to him from the burning bush. Who does that?
My friends will find this hard to believe, but I was once shy. Then life happened and I found my voice, in the classroom, in Bible studies, as Katie Luther. Not a big deal, but to Moses and lots of other people it is. Speaking in public scares 3 out of 4 folks to the core. Moses even confides to God that he is “slow in speech and tongue.” And what does God do? He tells Moses, He has his back. “I will be with your mouth.”
Imagine knowing God is giving you the words to say. Pastor Eric reminded us, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” How comforting and gracious! Pastor Eric asked us to consider, “Where is the ‘no’ in your life?” I must confess, if God told me to lead people into the wilderness for 40 years, ‘NO!’ would be my first response. But Moses did that and so much more for the people of Israel. Despite his flaws, Moses became a name we are in awe of!!
Dear God Use me for your Kingdom work. Where I am fearful, give me courage and strength. Help me to see Your goodness and blessings. Amen.
written by Cindy Swanson