Called Together
Sometimes we don't think we can do what we are being called to do.
But Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.’ But he said, ‘O my Lord, please send someone else.’ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, ‘What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.’ - Exodus 4:10-17
We all know that God doesn't make mistakes, and sometimes that fact bothers us. When God is pushing us to do something we fear, we want to think it is a mistake.
In today's reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses believes God has chosen the wrong person. He does not feel qualified to speak to the people. It is not his strong point, and yet God insists.
Because Moses refused, God called Aaron as well, giving Moses no excuse. So I think the message is that we don't have to be perfect. We can't be. Instead, we need to know our imperfections and leave those things for others to do for us. We need to work together.
The things we are weak in someone else may have as a strength. And if we ask God for help, He will guide those people to us.
What makes us the best choice for a job may not be the skills we thing matter most. In fact, what we think is most important may be easily accommodated some other way, leaving us to do what we are good at.
But if we try to be good at everything, we just might fail. We were made to work together in God's Kingdom. None of us can do it alone. In fact, what we are going through now is proof of that.
Living in isolation is hard. We don't like it. It isn't natural. We miss being together, working together, showing affection for one another.
God called Moses to show him and us that all of us are worthy of greatness, even if we don't have the talents or skills needed to do the job. There is something about us God wants us to see, something we may be unaware of. Moses focused on his flaws rather than on his strengths.
And that made him feel he couldn't, when God knew he could. All he needed was a little help.
Maybe that's how we have to look at what we are facing now. We just need a little help.
More to come...