I redeemed you . . . I sent Moses to lead you . . . And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:4, 8)
He doesn’t require a Master’s degree or a Ph.D.; He doesn’t even require a Bachelor’s degree!
Your résumé doesn’t impress Him.
He doesn’t care about beauty or physique, ability or talent.
He doesn’t care if you are disabled.
He doesn’t want or require perfection.
Paul had imperfections — imperfections he didn’t want. (2 Corinthians 12:-8) In fact, he begged the Lord to take those weaknesses from him, but the Lord didn’t. Paul didn’t use the imperfections as an excuse. He diligently persevered, running the race, serving the Lord, preaching the gospel, in spite of persecution and imprisonment. He wrote letters to the churches — epistles that teach us, guide us, direct us — all inspired by God. Paul kept the faith. James D. Smith III writes,
“To keep the faith is to put it mildly. Paul had done so in the face of jailings, floggings, death threats, murder attempts, and the constant anxiety for the churches he founded—not to mention what Paul called his ‘thorn in the flesh’—a chronic and debilitating weakness.”
And I complain about not having enough time to serve the Lord – about not feeling well. I want to let the younger women serve in capacities I once did. I’m tired. I have too much to do. My family needs all of my time.
Are you talented? Gifted? Confident? Beautiful? Perfect?
Or do you often feel insecure? Unable? Depressed? Too busy? Disabled?
Moses was disabled.
And he used it as an excuse not to obey God. God spoke to Him directly! Through the burning bush. God called him by name!
“Moses! Moses!” God said.
(We read about this in Exodus, Chapter 4.)
We might think, If God spoke to me directly, I would serve Him. I would do exactly as He asked.
Really? What has He said directly through His Word? (your burning bush)
“So now, go. I am sending you . . .”
God said.
Moses began his excuses: “Who am I that I should go? . . .Suppose I go . . . and they say, ‘Who sent you? What is his name?’ What if they do not believe me?”
God answered every question. And God gave Moses a staff and showed Moses the miraculous acts he could perform with the staff! But Moses still was not convinced, nor was he obedient!
So Moses used his trump: his disability. “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to me. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Oh, really? (As if God didn’t already know!)
The Lord God said, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will be your mouth and will teach you what to say.”
“Please Lord, send someone else to do it!” (Evidently Moses was thinking about his brother, Aaron.)
Moses’s brother Aaron was a gifted speaker – intelligent, refined.
But God used Moses.
God said He would help both Moses and Aaron speak and He would teach them what to do! God told Moses that he (Moses) would speak to Aaron and put the words in Aaron’s mouth! Then Aaron “will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth, and as if you were God to him!”
Imagine! Moses, the disabled one, is going to be God to Aaron!
Finally, Moses obeyed God and went to do what the Lord sent him to do – to rescue his own people.
I want the power of the Almighty God to be evident in my life! I want people to see God in me! I want God to teach me and let Him be my mouth!
And what does the LORD require of me? Does He require intelligence or degrees? Experience or an impressive résumé? Beauty or physique? Ability or talent? Perfection?
No, He requires me To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him.
If God speaks to you directly, will you obey Him? Will you do exactly as He asks?
Then listen to your burning bush – His Word!
“So now, go. I am sending you . . .”
God says.
And make no excuses! Because your disabilities don’t matter to God.
References:
Exodus 4:1-17
James D. Smith III, pastor of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church and adjunct professor of church history at Bethel Seminary—West, both in San Diego, California, is an adviser for Christian History. Copyright © 1995 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.