Examining Exodus and Excuses

Ever have those great Sunday school lessons that are taught on Sunday morning but stick with you throughout the week and even into future weeks?  I am blessed to be a part of a Sunday school class that has those kind of lessons more often than not.  This last Sunday was no different - A lesson that has really stuck with me and made me examine my life - my excuses.  

I need to start by giving a shout out to our teachers, Steve and Brenda.  They really know how to teach the Word and make it applicable in a deep and meaningful manner.  This last Sunday was no exception and the lesson has stuck with me as I have moved through the week.

This week Brenda led a lesson on excuses.  My dad has an old saying about excuses – excuses are like rear-ends; everyone has one and they all stink.  But when we think about excuses we don’t often think about the Bible and how even some of the most strong teachers and leaders and followers of Christ slipped up now and then and had excuses.  But if we turn to the book of Exodus, God explains His plan to Moses.  He lays everything out, explaining how Moses will go back to Egypt and tell the King to let the Israelites go.   Then Moses has a very candid, a very human conversation with God – one full of excuses.  For each excuse Moses gives, God answers and reassures him of His plan.  As we looked each of the excuses I could see how those same “reasons” are at play in our daily lives today.

Excuse #1:  Who me?

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

I think this is one of the most often used excuses that we mere mortals turn to in our daily lives.  We seem to always be asking or rather stating – “Who me?” “You want me to do what?”  “Have you met me?”  “Do you know about my past?”  “You must be thinking of someone else.” Or “Someone else will take care of that – that’s not for me!”

We see things all around us that need our help, our attention, and our prayers.  God can use each of us to serve His purpose but we often let ourselves get in the way.  Look how God answers Moses in verse 12 of Exodus3.  “I will be with you!”  It’s not you that is supposed to make it all work and perform miracles and have this amazing life plan all come together!  But rather God – working through you!  There is a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that says “A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she is in hot water”.  This quote makes me smile and on some levels I find it true.  But what is even better to me is that the tea was already strong before it got in the hot water and as Christians we know we are strong because we are a special blend – His blend.  We are strong through Him, hot water or not!  God wouldn’t call us to go somewhere or do something or handle something that wasn’t a part of His plan.  So really if you think about it the question isn’t “who me” because it isn’t about us.  It’s about Him.  God has got this excuse covered!

Excuse #2: I might not know all the answer

Exodus 3: 13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ The what shall I tell them?”

When I first started leading small groups and working with prayer groups this was one of my biggest fears.  What if someone asked a question that I didn’t know the answer?  What if someone wanted to dig deeper and I didn’t have the right shovel or even know which sandbox they were playing in.  To be perfectly honest… that is how it feels sometimes when I sit in Sunday school and some of our more theologically inclined historians get going.  But I have come to see the beauty of these deep discussions.  And each time I facilitate a group or pray with someone I focus on turning the controls over to the one with all the answers, God.  There is a great song by Toby Mac that often plays in my head before I step into any situation that I worry about not having the right answers.  Check out Steal My Show.  Yes, it’s about God stealing Toby Mac’s show/concert but in reality the show is already His and if we step out of the way and give God the stage of our daily lives then He will provide the right answers when the questions are asked.  See?  Excuse covered!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA_HoEC9ixc

Excuse #3:  The What-If Game

Exodus 4: 1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Wow!  Really Moses?  Were you not listening just a few short paragraphs ago when God explained how His plan would be successful and the role you would play in that?  But then again, how often do we do this ourselves?  How often we worry and fret – “What if this doesn’t work?” or “What if we run out of money before the end of the month” or “What if I loose my job?” or “What if something happens to our children?”  The list could go on and on… I bet right now you could come up with your own personal list of what-if questions that seem to constantly haunt us.  Sometimes when we are called… wait, scratch that…OFTEN when we are called to do something we play the what if game with God.  We worry and fret and what-if the situation to death instead of trusting and doing as we are called.

I am a part of a few different ministries that I know I am called to be a part of.  Recently I found myself playing the what-if game and trying to find a way to not continue some of them.  I didn’t mean to play this crazy game or question God.  I just got caught up in it all.  I worried “What if I don’t have child care?” and “What if no one shows up?” and “What if I don’t have time to give it my all because I am just overwhelmed?”  But, as I have prayed over our lesson from this Sunday, my what-if game has come into focus and I knew I was sitting in the same place Moses was when God approached him.  In Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us He has a plan for us.  He tells us He wants us to prosper and not be harmed.  He tells us His plan is to give us hope and a future.  Yet still, we worry and what-if.  It makes me wonder if someday someone will look back at my story and say “Was she not listening when God told her He’s got this?”  Talk about a wake up call.   Excuse definitely covered!

Excuse #4: I’m not good enough

Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord.  I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue.”

This excuse seems to be chanted by media, sang by society, and echoed in our hearts until we believe it.  I’ve heard it said in many different ways from “That’s not my strength” to “I could never do that” to “I just can’t do that”.  Media tells us our homes need to be bigger and cleaner and decorated differently and that we must raise our children one way and if we don’t do it this way as a mother than we aren’t good enough!  Look how many people compare themselves to the things they find on Pinterest or Facebook!  It’s crazy!  People believe these things as reality.  We catch ourselves comparing ourselves, comparing our children, comparing our lives.  We find others comparing our choices, our children, and our lives.  And soon in our hearts we begin to believe it. Even if we are talented at something or have a skill or a passion for it often we squash it to avoid offending others or seeming prideful. 

But let’s turn off the noise for a second!  You are good enough!  You are His!  He sent his only son to earth to die on the cross for you.  Let’s not forget that in all of this.  You might not be the best public speaker or you might not see yourself as an event organizer or a super strong prayer warrior but God has a plan for you; to use you for His glory.  Sometimes we are called to do things we aren’t comfortable with but if we are called by God, who are we to argue?  My favorite illustration of this is Beth Moore’s story about brushing a man’s hair in an airport. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtk5WgzZcYA

By saying we aren’t good enough or we don’t have the skill or the ability we are in truth doubting God.  Look through your bible and see how many times God calls the imperfect and the sinners and the weak to accomplish great things.  We serve an amazing God who raises the dead, heals the sick, allows the blind to see, and the deaf to hear.  Yet we doubt him.   

Each of us was made by God – not just slapped together but fearfully and wonderfully made.  We are more than good enough.  Excuse covered.

Excuse #5: Please not me! (Not really a typical excuse but not a good answer either!)

Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord.  Please send someone else.”

Many times I hear people talk about not wanting to facilitate or plan or take on a leadership role.  They feel they are better at just showing up and showing support.  While support is a good thing it does take boots on the ground to get anything to happen.  But with this excuse we always feel there will be someone else to pick up the task, that God should just go tap someone else on the shoulder and ask him or her to do it.  That isn’t the way it works.   God has a purpose for each of us and calls us to serve Him.  But something that I did find noteworthy hear in Exodus was God’s response to Moses.  He listened to him.  He didn’t completely ignore him or blow him off but rather he gave him a path the Moses could walk and still serve God.  How many times has God done this in my life?  Swooped in at the last minute when I thought I was up against the impossible and made it all seem doable.  I still might not have liked the path but at least – like Moses- I felt I was able to accomplish it and I wasn’t alone.  God was with me.  What an amazing and loving God we serve. Excuse covered by God’s grace!

Over and over again in the bible God tells us to listen and obey.  One of my favorite versus that highlights this is found in Luke 11:28 which reads, He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”  We can make all the excuses in the world and come with all the logical and worldly reason why our way or our plan is better than His but in the end all they are, are excuses.  We all seem to have them and they all stink. 

Now, please don’t read this entire post wrong and think I believe everyone should jump at every opportunity that knocks on their door.  That is not what I am saying! Listen for God.  Answer His call.  How do you know it’s Him?  That is a topic for a whole different discussion J

However, when you do hear him and your mind starts to race and your first instinct is to make a million on one excuses like Moses, remember it all goes back to that children’s worship song we all know and love – Trust and Obey

Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.