Calling Excuses

Calling

Excuses

Moses, the great man of God, had excuses

Moses, raised in the house of Pharaoh’s daughter

Was given all of the best that could be offered at that time

Training, Discipline, and Resources

Moses was a fugitive for killing a man in defense of another 

Moses at the age of 80 was a shepherd of his father-in-law’s sheep

You wonder if Moses had become complacent in life

  It is at this point, the call of God came from a burning bush

Moses made five excuses in response to God’s call

“I am not good enough”

“I don’t have all the answers”

“People won’t believe me”

“I am a terrible public speaker”

“I am not qualified”

None of these excuses were good enough because

The call of God is not about your weaknesses

But about His powerful grace in you

Excuses

Moses, the great man of God, had excuses.

Moses, raised in the house

of Pharaoh’s daughter,

was given all of the best that

could be offered at that time…

Training, Discipline, and Resources

Moses was a fugitive for killing

a man in defense of another.

  

Moses at the age of 80 was a

shepherd of his father-in-law’s sheep.

You wonder if Moses had

become complacent in life.

  It is at this point, the call of

God came from a burning bush.

Moses made Five Excuses

in response to God’s call.

The First Excuse was…

“I am not good enough.”

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should

go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 

Exodus 3:11

Maybe Moses was thinking…

 I killed a man and living in the

wilderness is my only city of refuge.

 

It is amazing that God calls

those “Not good enough”.

Remember Paul the apostle felt he

was the chief of all sinners, one who

persecuted believers, God’s people.

The call of God has never been

about being good enough.

According to Jesus…

 “There are none righteous, no net even one.”

The Old Testament prophet said

all our works are as filthy rags.

God does not hold our past against us.

 And when He forgives us,

He puts confidence in us.

Because He knows the power

of forgiveness to change a life.

So it is a nice try…

God only uses people

who are not good enough.

God’s answer to Moses was…

 “I will be with you”

Exodus 3:12

The Second Excuse was…

“I don’t have all the answers.”

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?' Then what shall I tell them?"

Exodus 3:13

I can so relate to this excuse.

I have a love-hate relationship

with speaking and writing.

The hate is not knowing what to say.

 I don’t want to be another

opinion giver, but a truth giver.

When I speak, I want what I

say to have a solid foundation.

Something I can prove if challenged.

God is not calling us because

we have all the answers.

He is calling us to be a vessel…

 One He can speak through.

You see it is never all about you…

 It is about allowing the Spirit

of God to speak through you.

The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and

bring those things back to our remembrance.

John 14:26

He will also give us what to

say in the hour of challenge.

Matthew 10:19-20  

Better than Google…

 You don’t need to know it

all because it is not about you.

It is all about who you

know not what you know.

God’s answer was…

 “Who am I?”

The Third Excuse was…

“People won’t believe me.”

Moses answered, "What if they do not

believe me or listen to me and say,

'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

Exodus 4:1

This is a natural fear.

Our world can be very mean and

cruel to those they don’t agree with. 

Venerability can be very scary,

especially when the group is hostile.

But God did not let Moses

hide behind his human fears.

God showed him He would put power in his hand

and even make his hands a sign of God’s power.

  

God showed Moses two signs…

 The stick that turns into a snake.

And his hand that became leprous.

God knows people do not always listen and

need convincing proof, that is why God answered…

Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you

or pay attention to the first miraculous sign,

they may believe the second.

Exodus 4:8

Predicting the outcome is no

excuse, people need to hear.

The Forth Excuse was…

“I am a terrible public speaker.”

Moses said to the LORD,

"O 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."

Exodus 4:10

Moses was a great speaker.

Either Moses was being humble

or God uses flawed vessels.

I believe both are true.

I love to listen to a good public speaker.

 I admire them and wish I

were as good as they are.

Many times I find this is my excuse.

There are so many people

who can speak better than me.

In our church our pastor is a very good speaker

and from time to time when he is gone

others from the pastoral staff will fill in.

You can tell they feel the pressure to measure up

and the congregation feels the pressure on them.

What is so amazing is the impact when

others from the pastoral staff fill in.

When I was pastoring fill time,

I felt this pressure every time I was to

speak because I served with leaders that

were national and international speakers.

Speaking can be very fearful and will

drive the fearful into God’s presences.

What a shame it is to make something and not

use it, that is why God answers this excuse this way…

The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?

Who makes him deaf or mute?

Who gives him sight or makes him blind?

 Is it not I, the LORD? Now go;

I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Exodus 4:11-12

When God made your mouth,

 He made it with a purpose.

The tongue is a hard thing to tame,

it likes to be free like a wild horse.

But what God gave you needs to be yielded to

Him, in a process of teaching and training.

 

Excuse number Five…

“I am not qualified”

But Moses said, "O Lord, please

send someone else to do it."

Exodus 4:13

This is Moses’ final argument.

It is this excuse that brings a

righteous anger from God.

Our insecurities, our laziness, our education,

our experiences, our qualifications.

Paul says…

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness."

2 Corinthians 12:9

We should never make us the excuse or

the things around us, because God is able.

God’s answer was…

Then the LORD's anger burned against

 Moses and he said, "What about…

Exodus 4:14

What you have not thought of, God has.

God says what about your brother, Aaron?

All around you and I are things

 we had not thought about.

The God who turned water into wine

can turn the things and people around

you into what you will need.

God’s resources are limitless.

Yes, God does supernatural miracles and

He could just speak the word and what

He wants you to do would be done.

But He chose you and will use natural

resources in your life to help you.

Your lack of qualifications makes room

for God to use others around you.

So what about…

The others in your life that

God wants you to work with?

    

Don’t live in the wilderness

not making a difference.

Don’t let your past keep you

from God’s great adventure.

Don’t let your age put you into retirement.

God did great things in a man full of

excuses when he put his trust in God.

Scripture Reading

Exodus 3:1-4:18 NIV

3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

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?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — a land flowing with milk and honey.'

18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

Exodus 4 NIV

4:1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied.

3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has appeared to you."

6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

10 Moses said to the LORD, "O 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."

11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."

18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive."