Who Me?

Poor Moses!….He was on the spot. God was calling him to do something that he didn’t feel qualified to do. I can see him squirming as the Lord told him that he was to return to Egypt and tell the Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from their bondage.

O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10). In essence he is saying….“I’m not the man you want.” In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, God could have given Moses an eloquent tongue and answered Moses’ excuse, but He didn’t!  Instead, God sent Moses back to Egypt with all his weaknesses.

The apostle Paul felt there was a limitation in his life and asked God to remove it.  He called it “a thorn in the flesh.”  As strange as it might seem God told him, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” Upon hearing that the apostle responded, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me …. for when I am weak then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). If Paul could have pointed to his remarkable physical resources then the power of God in his life would not be so obvious.

I can sympathize with these men. Although I am disciple of the Lord and a Christian duty is set before me and if God really expects me to do and to be all that He wants….then He should grant me special abilities…..but He doesn’t. I am still me. God does not need to overcome my inadequacies before He can use me. The truth is, God’s power is manifested in weakness! Now that’s amazing. He can use me just as I am.

That doesn’t mean that I am not to “equip” myself but I am aware that  real confidence comes from knowing God is with me. Let’s call it “God confidence.” We are always told to be “self-confident”…. but without the power of God then our self-confidence becomes our focus …. not God’s spirit within us. As  Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (that’s us) to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us”  (2 Corinthians 4:7). —Barbara Hyland

Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

Comments