Up for the Task

GETTING STARTED

I once had to plead my way into a college course that was already full. It was quite an intimidating task because the professor had a reputation for being notoriously difficult. And truth be told, the endeavor seemed even more daunting because, honestly, I was afraid that I didn’t have the mettle to master the class even if I were let in. But I needed it to fulfill my major, so I mustered the courage to convince the rigid professor to let me in. In much the same way God needed Moses to have courage in order to fulfill his plan to free his people, even if Moses  felt inadequate for the task.

  • When you feel God leading you toward something you’re unsure of, do you seek his strength to see you through to the end?

READ THE WORD: EXODUS 7:1-7 (ESV)

7:1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. In the last verse of chapter six, Moses repeated his fears of inadequacy in fulfilling God’s plan for him. How did God respond to him in the opening verses of this passage?
  2. Read through this passage again. What specific things did God tell Moses he intended to do, and what does this reveal about his sovereignty?
  3. As God laid out his plan for how Moses and Aaron were to approach Pharaoh, what became clear about God’s overarching role in this story? Was it about Moses’ own ability or God’s?
  4. Moses was hardly the only person God has used to display his sovereignty. How have you seen his will played out in our own life?

RESPOND TO GOD

Overcoming feelings of inadequacy comes from realizing that your story is really God’s story. In the case of Moses, God orchestrated every detail in his plan to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The fact that he enumerated this to Moses before the events would even unfold shows his desire to have us walk alongside him and see his ultimate plan come to fruition—even if we’re unsure we’ve got what it takes to participate in the storyline. When this happens, God gets all the glory.

  • Take a few minutes to consider what it means to serve a God who can use one man to free an entire nation from slavery.
  • Ask God for courage and for him to use you in a powerful way today.