OUR HUMANITY DEVOTIONAL
Scripture: Exodus 4:11-13 (ESV)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
Alternate Translation: Message Version
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.”
He said, “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!”
Devotional:
Moses was a murderer. He escaped Egypt and fled into the wilderness where He married and spent His days tending sheep.
We also know that Moses was not an articulate man. He had a speech impediment. He was insecure. He grew up without His biological family in the home of his cultural enemy having been abandoned for fear of infanticide. His story was about as messy as they come.
But God had used all the mess of his life to prepare him to be the man He would use to save a nation. God takes responsibility here for all the things that make Moses insecure. He is “slow of speech and of tongue” (because God made Him so) and despite witnessing firsthand the power of God, he still did not believe God would insulate him. He was far from “perfect.”
Do you struggle with insecurity? I do. My memory has been a major grievance for as long as I can remember. How about unbelief that God has good plans for you?
None of his flaws changed the fact that God had big plans for him. Regardless of the state of the tool or vessel, it is truly the Creator and User of it who makes it powerful.
I love that God took responsibility for Moses’ impediments. It displays that we are intentionally made; our shortcomings and handicaps are a valuable part of who we are. God will make use of them. To God, they become tools - while they anchor us to Christ in our reliance on Him.
God’s work was evident throughout the entirety of Moses’ life, but he did not recognize it. God prepared him from birth through multiple tragedies and met him in his insecurities. God provided a means to accomplish great things through a simple man.
God is not offended by our humanity.
Language:
made: [Hebrew/Greek: suwm: put, make, set, lay, appoint, give, ordain, mark]
synonyms: built, contrived, created, fashioned, formed, shaped
teach: [Hebrew/Greek: yarah: teach, shoot, archer, cast, inform, instruct]
synonyms: coach, demonstrate, prepare, sharpen
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Quotes:
“Have God make a message out of your mess.”
~ Joyce Meyer
“Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.”
~ Tim Keller
