We all see it—in others. Then, if we are honest, we realize we all do it from time to time, too. What is it? Objecting to what God asks of us. We question with a “pros and cons” list of why we can’t do what God says right now. We object to what God is telling us by procrastinating, arguing with God with a plea of ignorance or false humility, or by simply walking away from what He has clearly shown us to be and do. But God doesn’t give up easily—and that is a blessed miracle for each one of us!
However, we can be so obstinate as we come dangerously close to crossing the line of God’s patience. Our first thought, like Moses, at God’s “big ask” of us most often is “I’m not good enough”. Right? But then God reminds us that if He asked us to do it, He will make us more than worthy to fulfill His purpose in and through us. Where He guides; He provides!
Exodus 4, The Message
Moses objected, “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’”
2 So God said, “What’s that in your hand?”
“A staff.”
3 “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast!
4-5 God said to Moses, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.” He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. “That’s so they will trust that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
6 God then said, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” He slipped his hand under his shirt, then took it out. His hand had turned leprous, like snow.
7 He said, “Put your hand back under your shirt.” He did it, then took it back out—as healthy as before.
8-9 “So if they don’t trust you and aren’t convinced by the first sign, the second sign should do it. But if it doesn’t, if even after these two signs they don’t trust you and listen to your message, take some water out of the Nile and pour it out on the dry land; the Nile water that you pour out will turn to blood when it hits the ground.”
10 Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”
11-12 God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.”
13 He said, “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!”
14-17 God got angry with Moses: “Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he’s on his way to meet you. When he sees you he’s going to be glad. You’ll speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step. He will speak to the people for you. He’ll act as your mouth, but you’ll decide what comes out of it. Now take this staff in your hand; you’ll use it to do the signs.”
* * *
18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said, “I need to return to my relatives who are in Egypt. I want to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go. And peace be with you.”
19 God said to Moses in Midian: “Go. Return to Egypt. All the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey for the return trip to Egypt. He had a firm grip on the staff of God.
21-23 God said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, be prepared: All the wonders that I will do through you, you’ll do before Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn so that he will refuse to let the people go. Then you are to tell Pharaoh, ‘God’s Message: Israel is my son, my firstborn! I told you, “Free my son so that he can serve me.” But you refused to free him. So now I’m going to kill your son, your firstborn.’”
* * *
24-26 On the journey back, as they camped for the night, God met Moses and would have killed him but Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ member with it. She said, “Oh! You’re a bridegroom of blood to me!” Then God let him go. She used the phrase “bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision.
* * *
27-28 God spoke to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” He went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron the message that God had sent him to speak and the wonders he had commanded him to do.
29-31 So Moses and Aaron proceeded to round up all the leaders of Israel. Aaron told them everything that God had told Moses and demonstrated the wonders before the people. And the people trusted and listened believingly that God was concerned with what was going on with the Israelites and knew all about their affliction. They bowed low and they worshiped.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
“What if they won’t believe” really means “I do not believe.” Moses was concerned about his credentials before the elders, so God gave him three signs to convince the elders that he was truly God’s chosen servant.
When God speaks to us; Believe.
Moses completely missed the message of God’s name and miraculous power. “I Am” is all that we need in every circumstance of life, and it’s foolish for us to argue, “I am not.”
Moses was making the mistake of looking at himself instead of looking to God. The God who made us is able to use the gifts and abilities He has given us to accomplish the tasks He assigns to us. Who God sends; He supplies.
False humility is dangerous thinking and behaving and leads to objecting to what God has to say and want God wants to do in us and through us. False humility is basically a “cop-out”. Humility isn’t thinking poorly of ourselves; it’s simply not thinking of ourselves at all but making God everything.
The humble servant thinks only of God’s will and God’s glory, not his or her own inadequacy, success, or failure. Moses was clothing his pride and unbelief in a hollow confession of weakness.
“Lord, please, send anybody else!” was Moses’ final plea. Moses calls Him “Lord” and yet was refusing to obey His orders. Most of us understand that attitude because we’ve made the same mistake. Friends, We regularly resist, ignore, or deflect God’s commands—just as Moses did. We need to remember that if God isn’t Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all. Ouch, right?!
God knows us better than we know ourselves, so we must trust Him and obey what He tells us to do. When we tell God our weaknesses, we aren’t sharing anything He doesn’t already know. The will of God will never lead you where the power of God can’t enable you, so walk by faith in His promises.
God appointed Aaron to be the spokesperson for Moses, but Aaron wasn’t always a help to his brother. Aaron was the one who conspired with the people to create a golden calf to worship later, defying God! Aaron was also responsible for causing a riff between Moses and the people through gossip. Mm, just like we do in God’s church, right? God will sometimes give us what WE think we must have, but then we must live with it later. How God must deeply sigh at our requests, negative attitudes, objectional thinking and behaviors, and our obstinance when what He is doing comes from a heart of compassion and deep love for all of us.
How much proof do we need to know that God loves us and wants His best for us?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 God so loved; He gave. God gave His Son, a part of Himself, to stand in our place, taking the punishment for our own sin. He died and rose again with each one of us on His mind. He is the Truth, the only Way to eternal Life.
Believe, ask for His forgiveness, and be saved from self and our sin. Object no more to the call of God. Live forever with the One who loves us most! He is our Hope, the One and Only who loves us most! And He will always be with us! He proves that to me over and over again in the course of a day. Look up, see God at work in our lives!
Moses goes to the elders with Aaron. On hearing that God was concerned for them and was about to rescue them, they bowed in grateful worship. Worship is the logical response of God’s people to God’s grace and goodness.
Lord,
Thank you for your unconditional love for your created! Thank you for your wisdom, longsuffering patience with us, as well as your protection and provision. Thank you for saving our souls and freeing us from the sin that entangles our lives. Thank you for your ongoing, continual transformation of our hearts, minds and souls. Thank you for this lesson of objectional response in Moses that eventually turns out for good. Thank you for your teaching. I’m yours. Show me your ways and I will walk in them.
In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 