No Excuses

 “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? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

(Exodus 4:11–12)

When we’re called to serve, our first instinct is to get out of it. And, typically, we begin listing excuses. We begin listing all the reasons why we can’t do what’s been asked of us.

When the call comes from people, we’re more inclined to this than ever. We feel little guilt in doing so. We want to do anything and everything to preserve our time and energy.

However, that being said, we do the same when the call comes from God. As he calls us to serve, we again make excuses. Even if we feel guilty for doing so, we begin thinking of all of the reasons we cannot serve.

As we look at Exodus 4, Moses did the very same thing as God called him to lead the people out of Egypt. And if any call was intrusive on someone’s life, it was this. It meant giving everything, it meant giving his entire life to this task.

Moses first told God that, if he came to the people claiming that God had sent him, they would ask for his name. They would want to know the name of the God who sent him. And God gave to Moses his name.

Moses next told God that they wouldn’t believe him. God, then, gave him miracles that he could perform. He gave him signs to convince the people of his claim.

Finally, Moses told God that he was not eloquent. He said that he was slow of speech and tongue. And, for this reason, he could not do as he’d been called.

God then spoke to Moses the words of the passage above. He asked who made man’s mouth. He asked who made man mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind. And he pointed out that it was he, that it was the Lord himself, who did so.

He then repeated his call to Moses. He again told him to go. And he reassured Moses that he’d be with his mouth and would teach him what he should speak.

This is a great reassurance to us. When we are called by God, our shortcomings should not be an issue. They should not be an issue because, if God has called us, he’ll also supply to us the ability to carry it out.

On one hand, this removes all excuses. It puts the pressure back on us to do as we’ve been called. But it’s also reassuring.

It’s reassuring because God isn’t asking us to fulfill our calling by our own strength. Nor is he asking us to do so by our own abilities. He’s telling us that we’ll do so by his strength and ability.