Monday 1st March 2021
WHEN WE FEEL INADEQUATE
Scripture Reading: Exodus 3
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)
Moses felt inadequate for the task that the Lord had chosen him to perform. He had fled Egypt after his first failed attempt to fight the oppression of Israel.
When Moses decided to fight on the side of the oppressed Hebrews, he supposed that they would recognize his efforts. He was gravely mistaken. The Hebrews rejected him as a deliverer and questioned his motives. Moses lived with that sense of failure for 40 years.
Let’s consider the questions Moses asked the Lord.
- How can I stand before Pharaoh? Moses was a persona non grata in Egypt. Though he had lived almost all of his life in the house of Pharaoh, he betrayed the Egyptian Royal Family when he took sides with the Hebrew slaves. To Moses, going to face Pharaoh might have felt like a mouse attending a party of cats. He knew the power of the Pharaoh and how vicious it crushed opponents.
- How can I bring Israel out of Egypt? The Hebrews rejected Moses. How could he go back to the same people who rejected him? Any suggestion for Moses to go back to Egypt as the Hebrews’ unelected leader might have sounded ridiculous.
Have you ever felt unworthy to stand before some people? Maybe like Moses, you also offended a powerful ‘pharaoh’, and now you sense God telling you to go back. Is the Lord sending you to a people or place that rejected you?
Our God is relentless in His purposes. When He has His eyes on us, He doesn’t blink. The Lord keeps His gaze on us and continues to see our potential when all we see is our record. Don’t be amazed when the same God who called Moses to go and face people he was afraid of also calls you to do the same. He is the same God, and His ways are the same.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I feel inadequate to do all the things you want me to do. Fortify me by your Spirit for my mission. In Jesus’ name, Amen.