Long seasons of a lagging relationship with God can cause us to question our value to Him. Perhaps this is what happened to Moses when he saw God’s presence in the form of a burning bush and heard God’s own voice speak to him.

Exodus 3:7-12a says, The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey… So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" And God said, "I will be with you…"

After seeing God’s presence and hearing God’s voice, one would think that Moses would be "pumped up" for the job – "on fire" for the Lord and ready to serve. Instead, we see Moses have an identity crises. He asks, "Who am I?"

Moses probably remembered his past failure. He had murdered an Egyptian and covered him over with the sand of the desert. He probably thought about how his sin had been found out and how Pharaoh tried to kill him. Even now he was living as an "alien in a foreign land" because he had run for his life after his failure (see Exodus 2:11-25).

Moses questioned his worth. He was not thinking with the mind of Christ. He was listening to the voices in his own mind, and they were speaking with words of human wisdom, not words taught by the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:12-16). He knew the Israelites were God’s chosen people, and he didn’t see himself as the kind of man God would choose to lead His people. But God knew Moses’ heart. He knew Moses had a desire to do what was right. God knew he had the right man, even if Moses did not.

When Moses questioned his worth, God didn’t try to build him up by telling him he possessed skills and abilities that would help make him successful. Nor did He say, "I see what you’re saying, Moses, you really don’t have much experience in this area. Let’s just start by saving a small village first and work our way up from there." No! God said, "I will be with you." In other words, God told Moses that his worthiness would come from Him! That his strength and ability would come from Him! That his knowledge and experience would come from Him!

© Tammie 2005

Posted by Tammie at 6:16 AM