A short reading and prayers for today
But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
Exodus 4:10 NLT
I feel a bit sorry for Moses. I have often heard people suggesting that Moses was just looking for excuses to turn down God’s job offer. However, Moses’ reply to God sounds to me a perfectly reasonable objection. He clearly had significant problems with speaking and this would, it seems to me, make him a far from ideal candidate for a job which would be all about effective communication. But God was having none of it. He had decided that Moses was the man for the job and no objections, however substantial, were going to cause him to change his mind.
The point is this, and it’s one that we meet on many occasions throughout the Bible. When God chooses someone to work for him, he equips them with the ability to do it. In the New Testament we are introduced to Peter who, throughout Jesus’ ministry, consistently blundered in his speech. Time and again we wince at his foolishness, and we squirm with embarrassment at the memory of his repeated denials that he knew Jesus. If you were looking to appoint a Communications Officer straight after Jesus’ ascension I can’t imagine that Peter would have been your preferred candidate. Surely he was bound to make a mess of it. But look at what happened. On the Day of Pentecost Peter spoke with power and clarity and the outcome was that over 3,000 people became followers of Jesus that day. And that was no flash in the pan. Peter became the principal leader of the church in Jerusalem and finally died for his faith.
God knew exactly what he was doing when he called Moses and Peter. On the face of it they seemed unsuitable for the roles to which God called them, but in an amazing way the Lord enabled them to be incredibly effective in their work for him. That should be a great encouragement for us all. When God calls us to work for him he will equip us.
QUESTION
In what ways has God equipped you to do his work?
PRAYERS
Lord God, thank you that you promise to enable us to do whatever you call us to do. Amen
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.