Mar 20, 2018
By Brenda Rankhorn
In last month’s issue, we began discussing our lives in the context of a race, or for the purpose of illustration, a bike ride. Just as there were things that could hinder my choosing the bike route that I set out to take, there are things that hinder us from glorifying God, from running “the race marked out for us.” What are some things that keep us from glorifying God? We can come up with quite a list: pride, fear, inadequacies, busyness, distractions, poor health, problems, identity, feelings, our past, etc. The list can go on and on. For the purpose of making a point I’m going to focus on our identity, our feelings, and our past. We will see that the remedy for getting rid of these hindrances will be the same remedy that can be used to get rid of any and all of them.
Let’s begin with our identity: Moses is an example of someone who almost let his sense of identity keep him from the great call that God had on his life. In Exodus 3, we can read how God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. God explained how He saw the suffering of His children in Egypt and that He was going to use Moses as His tool to release them from Pharaoh’s power. Let’s read Moses’ response in verse 11 of Exodus 3. We find Moses making a pathetic excuse based on his identity (ESV) 11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (He’s saying, “Poor pitiful me, I was driven from Egypt. Who will listen to me? I am a nobody.”) God’s response is in verse 12. 12 He(God) said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” First, God tells him that He will be with him and gives him a sign. Further along in this passage, God continues to explain who He(God) is, what Moses is to say to the elders, what he is to say to Pharaoh, what God is going to do, and the final result. Moses continues with excuses. We are going to skip to Exodus 4 verse 10, as this is another excuse based on Moses’ identity. Exodus 4:10-11 (ESV) 10But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” (He is saying, “I am not good at smart comebacks or saying things in the right order; I get my words mixed up at times.”) Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (A paraphrase: “Moses, who do you think you are talking to? I am the one who formed you in the womb. I know EVERYTHING about you. I know who you are and how you speak.”) God basically responds to both of these comments with, “I will be with you, I am doing the work through you, and I’m not surprised by your weakness, I am calling YOU in spite of this.” He wants Moses to stop looking at himself and instead look to God for strength and wisdom, to understand God’s might.
Another hindrance is our feelings. How often do we imagine or assume how others will respond to the message of the Gospel or to us simply showing the love of God to them? Or we don’t praise God in church or pray aloud because we just don’t feel godly, wise, or capable enough? Moses had fears that drove him to the “what ifs.” In Exodus 4:1 he responds to God with, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” How often do we not share Jesus with someone else because we are afraid of the response or we just don’t know what to say? Just like God tells Moses, in verse 15 of Exodus 4, 15 “You shall speak to him (Aaron) and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.” God tells us that He will give us the words to say and that the Holy Spirit will speak through us (Luke 12:11, 12; Matthew 10:19, 20). As far as feeling godly or capable or wise, God chose us because we are not. I Corinthians 1: 26-31 states: 26 “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’” God chose us just the way we are—foolish, weak, low, despised—we have no excuse to not glorify God. God’s response once again to Moses and to us is that He is with us and that He wants to use us just the way we are and He wants the glory. The focus is God’s wisdom, God’s strength, God’s power. Focus on who God is and not on what we are not.
Part 3 in this series will be in the upcoming issue of the Sabbath Recorder.
