God Can Use You Even When You’re Afraid: Lessons from Moses

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is the one of Moses. He is such an inspiration and lesson in faith. He also is a powerful example of how we can see God transform an individual that has his own issues of self-confidence, fear, and anxiety, into a might man of faith that led God's people through the wilderness.

There are a few important things we see in the life of Moses as God prepare's him for his great calling:

1,) Moses is free to express his fears and self-doubts without angering God. When we open Sacred Scripture to the book of Exodus and begin at the end of Chapter 3 then we start to see Moses' anxiety and lack of self-confidence come into play. Moses is told by God (through a burning bush no less....I mean, come on now, you might want to believe a God that speaks through a burning bush that isn't turned to ashes...) that "I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites......Come, now! I will send you to Pharoah to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:7-8, 10)

Unlike many things in our life, Moses is actually given a reason by God as to why God wants him to be obedient. God tells Moses that his obedience will help rescue an entire group of suffering people from oppression and slavery. We are not always given the reasons by God as to why we are experiencing things in our life or why God has asked us to do something through faith. We must trust that God has a purpose and plan for whatever He is asking us to do. We either trust God or we don't.

But, Moses wasn't quick to jump on the God obeying, Pharaoh defying train just yet. 

"But Moses said to God,, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Isrealites out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11)

God didn't not chastise Moses or tell him how awful he was for questioning if he was good enough to do what God has asked of him. (Remember, Moses is still talking to a burning bush at this point). 

God simply gives him the solution. "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you....." (Exodus 3:12)

Moses is told that God will be with him AND he will be given evidence. But, Moses still questions and tries to tell God why he is not the right person for the job and to find someone else.

"I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor recently, nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue.... Yet he insisted, 'If you please, Lord, send someone else" (Exodus 4:10, 13)

It is ONLY after Moses continues to tell God he is not good enough, equipped enough, and that God Himself is not good enough for Moses to do what God is telling him to do that God becomes angry. God is not angry at first with Moses. He is patient and tells Moses that God will be with him. It is only when Moses continues to focus more on what he does not have as opposed to WHO he has with him that God gets angry.

2.) God will always provide what we need - but we can rob ourselves of the blessings God wants to give - It is only when we begin to focus on what we do not have in our life, as opposed to what we DO have and WHO we have, that God becomes angry. It is when we tell God that God is not enough. That having God with us and consistently present in our life is not good enough. It is THEN that God becomes angry. 

Yet, God did what the Lord always does and He provides. Just as He clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after the Fall (since they were ashamed that they were naked), the Lord provided Moses with a helper. He sent Moses' brother, Aaron, with him. 

Although it was beneficial that Aaron was sent with Moses, that was not God's original plan. God had planned for Moses to be the person to lead the Israelities and God only sent Aaron when Moses continued to object to God and question God. The Lord has set aside specific callings, purposes, and missions in your life that only YOU are intended to fulfill. God will get His plans fulfilled with our without you. But, He wants YOU to participate in the completion of His plan and He wants YOU to enjoy the richness of obedience and fulfillment of your calling.

3.) Moses became a great leader through adversity and faith - He might not have started off well and God may have had to attach him with a chain to the Obedience Train, but Moses finally got on board. It was through seeing the miracles that God displayed and how God used Moses himself that Moses became a leader of faith. It is through the desert that Moses receives the 10 Commandments and leads the israelites through their desert years. 

When the Isrealites began grumbling and complaining, Moses must have had some Déjà vu. But, Moses could now understand their fears while encouraging them to have the faith and trust in the Lord that he had struggled with himself. 

The Israelites complained to Moses, saying, "Did we. not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, 'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert" (Exodus 14:12)

But, Moses stands bold and tells them, "But. Moses answered the people, 'Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today.....the Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." (Exodus 14:13)

Final Encouragement:

Life throws us situations that leave us feeling as if we are standing at the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go. I don't know what cliff you are standing at or what mountain is blocking your way, but I know the God that can build a bridge and move the mountain. He only asks that you trust Him. 

God is ready to part the Red Sea for you and tear down walls that are hindering you. He is ready to turn struggles into victories and mourning into rejoicing. He is ready to break off chains of anxiety and fear and replace them with shoes of dancing and boldness.

He is ready to use you. He is ready to help others through you. He has a plan...

He sees you. He knows you. He says YOU are good enough and He will provide everything you need.

Trust Him....