LEARNING DAILY

Exodus 3:11, But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Dr. Ed Newton began a new series this past weekend that he will use throughout the summer.  “Why not you?” is the title of the sermon series. He gave some background to Moses’ upbringing and asked the question, “Why not you?”. Moses, as you know, was the son of the Hebrew slaves and baby boys were being killed at this time. The mother of Moses placed him in a basket made of reeds and floated him in the Nile River to be found by the daughter of Pharoah. Moses was raised in the court of Pharoah; he grew up an Egyptian, knowing the language, the walk, and knew Egyptian customs and knew his way around the Egyptian legal system. At age forty he had to run from the Egypt and eventually lived the next forty years as a shepherd. “The Egyptians would not look for him amongst the shepherds because of their disgust for them” (Newton). After another forty years, God spoke to Moses from a burning bush and instructed him to go to Egypt to bring God’s people out of there.

Moses made excuses for why he could not do this, why he was not qualified. Why me? God answered him “Why not you?” “You are really quite qualified, as you grew up in Pharoah’s court” (Newton). Can’t you hear God tell Moses that growing up in Pharoah’s control was no accident. He had prepared Moses for forty years in Egypt to do just what He wanted him to do now. Newton went on to explain that every single Believer has been prepared for a lifetime to do a work for God. Every experience and the nature engrained in you has to do with whatever God has planned for you. Dr. Newton also mentioned that every Believer “needs to believe and receive what God says about you.” In the days ahead I will share what God says about you!

 Moses tried another excuse for not being the one to go to Egypt. He asked what he should say when the leaders of Israel asked who had sent him. In other words, Moses was asking “who are You?”. Dr. Newton said Moses was saying several things here. Moses knows who God is, but he does not know Him personally. He was also saying that he was not smart enough to tell people about Him. A few verses later Moses added the excuse that “he was not eloquent enough, that he was slow of speech and tongue”. Moses was saying “I will never be enough!’ (Newton). Dr. Newton went on to talk about God’s response. “I AM WHO I AM.” God told Moses He is the God who always was, always is, and always will be. He told Moses He would be with him and the God who told you to go is the answer! God told Moses that He would be his sufficiency.

I have felt like Moses. Haven’t you? There have been times when I know I needed to say or do something but did not know what to say nor what to do. Today, I was shopping for an anniversary card for my bride. I was in the card aisle and a woman was in tears speaking to her husband (and yes, I could not help hearing!). Evidently, her father had passed away not long ago, and the Father’s Day cards were right in front of her. Yes, she was not handling it well. I found my card and was leaving, and I had to walk past her. She made a comment about “blubbering in the card section”. What would you have said or done? I just said something about God taking care of her – yikes, how inadequate!

Let me share several more comments from the Listener Guide. God picked you. Your background brings you to the foreground. Your past has not disqualified you from being used by God to give an encouraging word, a listening and nonjudgemental ear, or something else to a person in need. You might want God to send someone else – but He is sending you because He has prepared you. He just needs you to be obedient with what He has already done, what He is doing now in your life.

Moses was obedient. He went and God was with him using signs and wonders so that Pharoah let the Hebrew people leave Egypt. What does He want to use you to do?