In our Old Testament reading this week, we began the book of Exodus. If there was ever a book in the Bible that would translate into an epic movie, or even a drama series on Amazon Prime or Hulu, Exodus would be at the top of the list. As a matter of fact, there have been many films made pertaining to the events in the book of Exodus. When we began reading Exodus this week, we see one of the most well known accounts in Scripture, and that's the account of God appearing to Moses in the form of a burning bush. We read that Moses noticed this fire inside of a bush, and the bush wasn't being consumed by the flame. I assume in all my logic that would be something that would catch my eye as well. When Moses approaches the bush, God speaks. He informs Moses that He will using him to deliver the Israelites out of the bondage of slavery they were currently in under the rule of the Egyptians. He tells Moses that He will be sending him into the presence of Pharaoh himself to bring his brothers and sisters of Israel out of captivity. Imagine getting that type of assignment from God. This isn't simply God telling Moses to walk across the street to his neighbor and bring them some baked goods and invite them to church. This is a major assignment. And immediately, Moses has his reservations. He also at first wants some details of how to somehow carry this task out. He needs God to instruct Him in how to tell the nation of Israel that He will be leading them out of hundreds of years of slavery. Just previously, Moses had killed and Egyptian in a fit of rage in the name of justice as the Egyptian was beating one of his fellow Israelites. Pharaoh already wanted to kill Moses because of the incident. Moses had some pretty serious concerns that anybody would follow him at all, or listen to what he had to say. And, on top of that, God just asked him to go in front of Pharaoh, the guy that wanted him dead, and demand that he let his people go. Moses asks God concerning his fellow Israelites, "who do I say sent me if they ask?"
God says "Tell them 'I AM' sent you." Just think about that. God calls Himself "I AM." In our life, I'm fully convinced from experience of how much peace we can obtain from our Heavenly Father when we remember that He is Lord. There's a reason He is called Lord. Lord implies the truth that our God oversees and is in authority over every single thing in this universe He created.
God goes on to give Moses the ability to perform some pretty miraculous signs to prove that He was indeed sent from God. Even when Moses tells God that he isn't an eloquent speaker, God reminds Him that He was the one that created him, and He was aware of all of Moses' challenges. He then tells Moses to take his brother, Aaron with him, because Aaron could speak well. God equipped Moses for the daunting task ahead of him.
So what about you and me? How do we respond when God gives us the assignment of being His hands and feet? Well, I can tell you that some things are easier to say "yes" to than others. And, let's be honest, we feel ill equipped for whatever assignment is given to us sometimes. God will give us work to do that will make us question our ability to carry it out. But, just exactly like Moses, God will equip us with all we need to accomplish his work. Just like He did Moses, God created us, and knows our weaknesses and insecurities. He knows our abilities. He also creates us with an inability to carry out His work within our own strength. I firmly believe He does that on purpose. I've often heard it said, and I believe, that God doesn't call the "equipped" to do His work, He equips those He has called. Brother and sister, never look at your abilities and qualifications, or like Moses, look back on your past failures, as a reason why you can't carry out the tasks ahead of you given by God Himself. Whether that's speaking truth in love into the lives of those in your life that need to hear where they have sinned and fallen short, or whether it's to pack up your stuff and become a missionary on the other side of the world. Or, anything in between. Maybe He's calling you into some kind of ministry, or maybe He's calling you to make your kid's spiritual growth more of a priority. Whatever it is, He promises to give us all the tools to carry it out. And, it will be nothing short of a miracle, because our strength to carry these tasks out is most definitely of the supernatural type. The Great "I AM" can and will accomplish His purpose in our life and in this world. What a joy it is to simply be a part of it all.
-Brandon Walker