No Buts

“So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.”  Exodus 3:8

 

The instructions were barely out of God’s mouth before Moses starting stammering excuses. “But who am I?”  “But suppose they say…”  “But what if they won’t…?”   “But I’m not good at…”

In light of what he had heard—“Go to the most powerful man in the world and lead his free labor force out the country,”—Moses’ words might seem to hold weight, but they don’t.  Why?  Because Moses was focused on WHAT was said and not on WHO said it.

Yes, the order was overwhelming and the instruction impossible for a mere mortal, but Moses was looking in instead of up.  “But who am I?”  “But suppose they…” “But I’m not good at…”  “But what if they…?” Moses couldn’t see past his own weakness to God’s strength, and he was acting as though success depended on him, but such was not so.

What Moses considered legitimate reasons God deemed lame excuses, and He diffused them all with one divine declaration.  “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’  And God said, ‘I will be with you’”(Ex 3:11-12).  God’s presence is equivalent with His power, and it doesn’t matter who we are because of who He is – I AM. 

It’s not wrong to feel weak and it’s not bad to be honest about our own abilities, but when God says, “Go,” we can know He will provide the strength, stamina, and skill it takes to carry out His commands.  “For it is God who works in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him”(Phil 2:13).  

God’s purpose is way bigger than our protests, so when He gives instructions, obey.

With no “Buts…”