“Moses answered [the LORD], ‘But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, “The LORD did not appear to you.”’ The LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A staff.’ And he said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Put out your hand and catch it by the tail’—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ‘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.’ Again, the LORD said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, ‘Put your hand back inside your cloak.’ So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ‘If they will not believe you,’ God said, ‘or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.’
“But Moses said to the LORD, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.’ But he said, ‘Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.’ Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, ‘Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 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 both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.’” [1]
More power is revealed through one righteous life than will ever be witnessed in a hundred mediocre sermons delivered to a sleepy congregation. There is more power in one personal testimony of God’s grace than will be ever found in a thousand unread books. Because you are a child of the Living God, your witness of His power in your own life has far greater impact in the lives of those who know you than you could ever know. God works through you, and His power is revealed in you.
Our study this day requires us to look at an incident in the life of Moses, the Great Lawgiver. This is the man who had it all, having risen to the heights of power in the most powerful nation of his day. We imagine that if only we can see the powerful of the land saved and serving Christ that great things will happen. This is seldom the case, however. More often, the Lord raises up someone who is unknown, someone with no power in the world, using that individual in a powerful and uncommon way.
A truth to hold close to your heart: Minorities, not majorities, dominate history. And know that those minorities are often led by insignificant individuals. The presence of these irrelevant, seemingly inconsequential individuals stuns the powerful of the world. The powerful cannot account for the power of those who transform the world.
Isn’t this what we witness when the Apostle, writing the Corinthians testifies? “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31].
One man with faith in the Living God will accomplish great things that astounds the world. One small band of men and women walking in the Faith of the Risen Saviour can transform their world. You need but consider how missionaries walking in the power of the Living God earned the sobriquet, “men who have turned the world upside down,” commanding the full attention of the leaders both of the Jews, and the Gentiles, and civic leaders in the city of Thessalonica [see ACTS 17:6]. And one shepherd would challenge the might of the sole world superpower of his day.
A CRITICAL PRINCIPLE FOR UNDERSTANDING GOD — God is seeking people to serve Him while depending on Him rather than seeking people who attempt to serve while depending on their own abilities, their own strength. There is a passage that will perhaps assist in understanding this truth. While providing instructions concerning the grace of giving, the Apostle provides sound instruction for all who are following the Risen Lord. The Apostle to the Gentiles writes the Christians in Corinth in his second letter, “In this matter [of providing gifts for relief of the saints] I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” [2 CORINTHIANS 8:10-12].
Central to the Apostle’s argument in this matter is the understanding that the gifts we offer are to be given from what we have, not from what we do not have. For this reason, in our worship services we give, rather than pledging what we will give at some future date. We don’t promise our gifts based on what we think we might receive at some date yet future. God does not expect anyone to participate during the time of worship in giving if that person possesses nothing that would permit her or him to give. It is a principle of the Faith, even a principle of common sense, that one cannot give what one has not received. The point should be self-apparent.
I make this point so that I can emphasise that you cannot minister effectively if you have not received the ability to minister. I am not attempting to create an excuse for any who profess to honour the Master to avoid serving according to the grace God has given. Each Christian is equipped to serve in some capacity! Therefore, each Christian is expected to be actively engaged in serving within her or his assembly. To be certain, some acts of service must be performed out of necessity, but we perform such acts knowing that we can never be as efficient or as effective as others who are equipped to do them. Nevertheless, we know that those actions for which we are divinely gifted become our personal responsibility. We joyfully serve, offering the abilities we are equipped to use, knowing that we are glorifying the Lord Who has equipped us.
Perhaps it will prove beneficial to recall a truth that is sometimes overlooked. Each individual who is born from above is divinely gifted. The Spirit of God gives to each twice-born child of the Living God gifts, abilities that were not possessed before the new birth. Surely, this is evident when we read what the Apostle has written in the First Letter to the Church of God in Corinth. Paul writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-7].
Note that seventh verse: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The investment of the Living God in your life should be evident, but the Apostle continues by listing a number of the gifts which are given by the Spirit of God—the ability to speak wisely, the ability to speak knowledgeably, exceptional faith, gifts of healing, working miracles, prophetic ministry, distinguishing between spirits, the ability to speak languages never studied, and the ability to interpret what is said in those languages. And this is just representative of what God does among us!
After stating these exciting truths, Paul notes something that should encourage each of us when he writes, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:11]. What I especially want you to note is the fact that the Spirit of God specifically chose each gift that is given. In other words, God Himself considered you and made a deliberate choice to give what was good both for you and for the assembly in which He has placed you.
Here is the essence of what is taught: if you are one who is born from above, God has invested Himself in your life, giving you a gift that is intended to be used for the benefit of the whole church. As one who follows the Risen Saviour, you are unique and critically important to the health of the congregation. To be certain, you are a blessing to the entire congregation, but your blessing is revealed in no small measure by the fact that you occupy a unique place that was specifically chosen by God Himself. You have a place in the assembly that only you can fill!
The gift, or gifts, God entrusted to you were given specifically so that the entire congregation would be blessed. We are responsible to invest ourselves in one another. Again, this is evident when Paul writes, “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:24b-25]. God wants you to know what He has done and to use what He has given so that all can be blessed and built up in the Faith as we work together for His glory.
Later, expanding on the importance of this divine gifting that goes on as new people are added to the Body, the Apostle will urgently remind us that the gifts we have are entrusted to our oversight for one great purpose, which is to ensure that the church is built up. Look at what the Apostle says to people that are eager to see the Spirit at work in their midst. “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:12]. Invest yourself in the life of the Body, seeking always to build up the Body. Make it your goal to build up others and to strengthen the entire church.
I understand that the flesh wants to be recognised as important. I understand that we want to be noted as really vital to the church in which the Spirit has placed us. However, what we often miss is that there is no such thing as an inferior gift if that gift has been specifically chosen and given by the Spirit of God. Paul mentioned a number of gifts as noted earlier, and he added to that list when he spoke of the appointment as an apostle, as a prophet, as a teacher, all of which we would readily understand are essential to the health of the greater Body. However, note his mention of the gifts of helping and of administration, blessings which are sometimes overlooked [see 1 CORINTHIANS 12:28-30].
The suggestion of the variety of gifts that the Spirit of God gives is expanded elsewhere when the Apostle writes, “By the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” [ROMANS 12:3-8].
In this passage we see added the gifts of serving, exhorting, generosity, leadership, and showing mercy. You may have thought that you simply enjoyed giving generously to the needs of the assembly; but have you thought that perhaps the Master has gifted you with the desire and the capacity to give in support of those things to which His Spirit directs you? You may have thought that the compassion you demonstrate so effortlessly was just who you are; but is it possible that God is using you in a unique and powerful way to bless others that need the expression of mercy that you so effortlessly demonstrate? My point in saying this is to encourage you to consider your place in the assembly wherein God has placed you. You have a role, and that role is critical. Your role is determined in great measure by what God has done in your life and how He has equipped you for that work, work that is unique to you and work that is essential for the health of the Body. But now it is time for us to refocus attention on the text so that we can learn something about how we are to serve.
SERVING GOD WITH WHAT YOU HAVE — “Moses answered [the LORD], ‘But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, “The LORD did not appear to you.”’ The LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A staff.’ And he said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Put out your hand and catch it by the tail’—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ‘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.’ Again, the LORD said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, ‘Put your hand back inside your cloak.’ So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ‘If they will not believe you,’ God said, ‘or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground’” [EXODUS 4:1-9]
The LORD called Moses, appointing him to the great task of delivering Israel. But the man who had at one time been a proud prince in Egypt attempted to excuse himself, pleading that no one would believe that the LORD had appeared to him, much less that God had appointed him to be a deliverer for the people of God. But God asked Moses one simple question: “What is that in your hand?” God was going to use what Moses had to demonstrate that the power required to do what God appointed did not lie in the one whom God might appoint, but all power was in Him Who appoints. Moses was focused on his abilities (or rather, on his inabilities). God was looking at whether the one whom He was approaching was willing to be used.
Forty years earlier, Moses had held a grandiose opinion of himself and his ability. Having been raised in the household of the Pharaoh, Moses had been trained to rely on His connection to the throne and on his own status as a child in the household of Pharaoh. At that time, his word was law. After serving as a shepherd for forty years, Moses had no confidence in his power to do anything, and he certainly was unable to compel others to do his will. He was no longer thinking of how powerful he might be. All this humbled shepherd could think was that he had no power whatsoever. He had no authority.
In years past among the faithful one might have heard the people of God recite the adage, “One plus God is a majority.” Truly, power belongs to God; power is not inherent in us. Our strength is finite, limited, while the strength of God is infinite. We read the words that the Apostle penned, but I must wonder how seriously we take those words. Paul testified, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” [PHILIPPIANS 4:13].
The power of Christ arises from Who He is, very God. You may recall that in the birth narrative, we learn that Jesus was to be known as Immanuel. As Joseph struggled with whether he should quietly dismiss Mary, the angel of God appeared to Him, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” [MATTHEW 1:20-21]. We are then informed, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel’
(which means, God with us)” [MATTHEW 1:22-23]. And because He is very God, His power is characterised as authority. And He has given that authority to those in whom his Spirit resides. Therefore, we possess the power of Christ for His glory.
Do you believe this? Can you present a witness that is sufficiently cogent that it compels your child to have faith in Christ? Is your argument so persuasive that your lost friend will listen to you as you plead with her or him to look to Christ as Master over life? Can you stand firmly for righteousness without wavering in your resolve when those at work are ridiculing the Faith and demeaning love for Christ? You know very well that in any of these instances it is the power of God working through His Spirit that accomplishes what must be done. You know without question that God must do this work because you lack the power to touch the heart of another.
At any given moment, it is possible that you can physically best an individual. Even the strongest person may have one moment when he is weak and we can prevail. It is possible that you can present such an intellectually powerful argument that the one against whom you are arguing is rendered incapable of responding. Even the most learned among us may stumble at some point. Perhaps you can momentarily touch the emotions of another person, causing that one to feel deep pain or creating other strong emotions. However, you know that whatever impact you may have in that individual’s heart will be transient. You know that if you will effect permanent change in that person’s life, the spirit of that person must be transformed; and the transformation of the spirit of another is a task that lies beyond the scope of our abilities. We who follow the Risen Lord of Glory know that He must work if anything of permanence shall be effected in the life of another, or if any change in our own life is ever to be effected.
And He is working in us as we are being changed into His image. Have you not read the words with which the Apostle to the Gentiles encourages us? Paul wrote, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified [ROMANS 8:28-30].
When Moses protested that he could not do what the LORD appointed him to do, God confronted him by asking, “What is that in your hand?” Moses was holding a shepherd’s staff. It was a tool of the trade he had been forced to accept when he fled from Egypt. The shepherd’s staff was an item that a shepherd would need each day as he tended the flocks. Though the staff was a necessary tool for the shepherd, it was not an instrument radiating power. No person would tremble at the sight of a shepherd’s staff. If anything, the staff was a symbol of weakness, indicating that the person holding the staff occupied no position of authority or of power. But, oh my goodness, what could be done with that staff when it was surrendered to the LORD to use as He willed! There was nothing magical about the staff, but something wonderful would take place when Moses allowed God to use that staff. And something wonderful will take place when you allow God to use what is in your hand. The issue is whether you surrender what you hold to God, or attempt to use it yourself.
Perhaps you have heard the delightful story of Poland’s famous concert pianist, Ignace Paderewski. A mother had taken her small child to a concert by Paderewski to expose him to the talent of the great pianist. She hoped that in doing this she would encourage her son in his piano lessons, which he had only begun.
They arrived early at the concert hall and they were seated near the front. Standing alone on the stage was a marvellous Steinway grand piano. As they waited for the concert to begin, the mother began a conversation with the people seated beside her. At last, eight o’clock came, and the lights began to dim. Everyone turned their attention to the stage and the grand piano. Looking up, the mother was horrified to see her son seated at the piano banging out with one pudgy finger, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
The mother was horrified and ashamed of what she saw as a major faux pas. She wondered, “How cam I going to get him down?” She began to make her way out of the row in which she was seated in order to get on the stage to bring her child away. As she moved toward the stage, Ignace Paderewski himself appeared on the stage. He went over and sat down beside the child. He whispered in the child’s ear, “Don’t stop; keep playing.” As the lad continued to play, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began to fill in the bass part. Then, with his right arm around the little boy, he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerised. The story is likely fiction, although it did serve as the basis for an advertisement a few years past. [2]
What is that in your hand? Your service before the Lord must begin with what you have. You are not responsible for attempting to minister with what you do not have. People commonly protest that they cannot tell others of the Saviour. They argue that they have never had a course in evangelism, or that they are untrained in apologetics. Others excuse their disobedience to fulfil the command of the Master to disciple the lost because they have never attended Seminary. Where is that verse that allows us to delay obedience to the Master’s command? Jesus commands, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” [LUKE 9:60].
In the parable of the landowner who hired workers to gather his harvest, those who were hired were not necessarily trained in the techniques of harvesting the grapes. Yet, the landowner hired them, insisting that they must go at that time to gather in his crop. Though they protested, “No one has hired us,” the landowner instructed them, “You go into the vineyard” [see MATTHEW 20:1-7]. The sole qualification for serving the Master is a redeemed life. If He has called you to life, He has “hired” you to work in His vineyard. If you are saved, you are expected to serve. God will be responsible for preparing you for what you must do, and He will equip you to accomplish what He wills!
What is that in your hand? The widow can begin with friendship, a cup of tea offered to a neighbour, or by kindly listening to a friend with a heavy heart. Her friendly gesture will glorify God as she is able to strike up a friendship or to encourage someone who is discouraged. The young man can demonstrate the kindness of God as he initiates his ministry with a mower and an offer to provide lawn care for a pensioner who is struggling to care for his own lawn. In the process, the generous offer of the strength of that younger man will surely honour the Lord, and it may open a door that permits speaking of Christ and the offer of life that is found in Him.
What is that in your hand? Perhaps it is a pencil. What can be accomplished with that pencil if God empowers you, guiding that pencil to write a note encouraging some friend who is discouraged or some dear soul who has been devastated by life’s pressures! What extraordinary feat can you perform if you should pen an account of how God transformed your life so that future generations will know of the power of the Living God? What changes might be wrought in this world should you begin to write a letter to the editor standing for righteousness and for goodness in the midst of a world gone mad?
Though it is true that fewer people take pen in hand to write a letter in this day, the time you spend in sending a personal note of comfort to someone who grieves can honour God, and that thoughtful act will surely serve to encourage that one who weeps now because they know that someone cared enough to take time to write a personal note. Or perhaps it could be a simple note of gratitude sent to someone who has shown you particular kindness. Such a response reveals courtesy, and when it is offered in a spirit of friendship that is squarely fixed on the Lord, it does glorify the Saviour. That pen or that pencil when guided by a heart that seeks God’s glory can become a powerful source of service, especially when the words captured on paper are offered in Christ’s Name.
What is that in your hand? Do I see a hammer? Or perhaps a wrench? While that hammer could be destructive, should you use it to the glory of God it can repair a widow’s house. Or it might address a squeaky floor for a single mother. That wrench may be the answer to a single mom’s need as you change the oil in her car. Men can change out the summer tires for that single mom.
In the church, fulfil the tasks Christ assigns. Peter charges, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies” [1 PETER 4:10-11a].
The time for making excuses for our disobedience is long past. Peter, rightly ashamed of his conduct when the Master was standing trial, attempted to deflect the command the Risen Saviour delivered that he was responsible to feed Christ’s sheep. The chagrined disciple wanted to know what others might do, and queried the Saviour, “Lord, what about this man?” Of course, you will recall that the Lord told Peter, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me” [JOHN 21:22]! How the Master deals with others is of no concern to you; you are to follow Him. Find where the Master is working, and begin there to do what He commanded you to do.
EXCUSING OUR FAILURE TO OBEY THE LORD — “But Moses said to the LORD, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.’ But he said, ‘Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.’ Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, ‘Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 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 both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs’” [EXODUS 4:10-17]
God commanded Moses to deliver Israel from crushing slavery. Immediately, Moses began to excuse himself, informing the LORD why it would be impossible for him to do what the LORD was commanding. Moses wasn’t in the least interested in doing what the LORD had commanded. I suppose Moses wanted the Jews to be freed from their slavery, but he was more than willing to allow someone else to do the delivering. Moses assumes that eloquence would be required for him to do what God commands. The Lord dismisses that excuse, noting that since He created the mouth, He is well able to equip Moses to do whatever needs to be said.
The old holiness preacher, Bud Robinson, provides ample evidence that God is able to do wonderful things with the least gifted individual imaginable. Uncle Bud stuttered so badly that he said it took him twice as long to say about half as much as anyone else. Yet, God used him to usher hundreds of thousands of lost souls into the Kingdom of God. [3]
On one occasion, Lynda and I heard Homer Lindsay, Jr. preach. Dr. Lindsay pastored one of the largest Southern Baptist Churches in the United States at that time. We discovered that he was not an exciting preacher. He just talked in a quiet fashion. Nevertheless, we found ourselves drawn in by his sincerity, by his evident love for the Word that he was delivering. We had sat under the preaching of Dr. W. A. Criswell and Dr. James L. Higgs, and we knew something of great preaching. However, listening to Dr. Lindsay, we learned that God is seeking those who will allow Him to be great!
Frank Norris told of attending a message by the great Methodist preacher, Sam Jones. At first Norris formed the opinion that Jones was a man with a big reputation and no particular ability, until he heard Jones say, “Men, I was so low down with drink that I’d crawl into the saloon and ask the bartender to just dip a cup into the slop tub to give me a drink of that old rot-gut whiskey.” He continued by telling how one night he was thrown out of the bar during a snowstorm. That night he nearly froze to death. Awakening the next morning, he stumbled into the bar, pleading for a drink. The bartender gave him a glass of the same old rot-gut whiskey he’d had the night before. Raising the glass to his lips, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
He said to himself, “Is that all there is? Is that all that’s left of the once brilliant lawyer? Is that what he has become?” Sam Jones smashed that glass, turned, and left the bar. He found a haberdasher who had known him, and that man clothed him with a new suit and all the accessories needed. He found a barber who cut his hair and shaved him. Soon after, he reunited with his wife and children and began preaching the Gospel that not only saves a man but makes him clean and sober. Jones concluded that story, saying, “Since that time, I’ve travelled across these states bragging that if Jesus can save old Sam Jones, He can save any man.” Norris responded to this message by exclaiming to his mule, “Let’s go home, Beck. That message is worth everything I spent.”
Returning to the text, we note that Moses offered up one excuse followed by another until at last pleading, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” [EXODUS 4:13]. Moses had nearly exhausted every excuse he could imagine, and the LORD persisted in demanding that the elderly shepherd do what God was commanding. Now, excuses exhausted, Moses was reduced to making a final plea, “Let someone else do this!” It was the ultimate refusal.
We’ve all been there. We understood that God was appointing us to perform some particular task, and yet we were full of excuses why we could not perform the task. We argued that we weren’t competent to do what God appointed us to do, or we just knew that the task would take too long to complete. We argued, “I’m not trained to do that,” or we created some other excuse. We seem always to find a reason why we can’t do what we know God would have us do. We seem always to have multiple excuses for why the tasks God assigns aren’t feasible. Of course, our failure to do what God commands only complicates our life, ensuring that chaos reigns.
I’m speaking to some people today who wonder what they can do for the cause of Christ. The simple answer is that each of us can begin now to do what we know God appoints us to do. You and I have heard all the excuses, and we recognise them for what they are—excuses. It is time for us each to obey the Lord, doing what He commands us as His servants to do. Perhaps you won’t be called to deliver children trapped into sexual slavery, but you may be appointed to gather children to bring them to the House of God. Perhaps you won’t be called to assume a formal church office, but you may be appointed to accept some quiet service for the congregation. Perhaps you will not be called to be a great spokesman for Christ, but you may be appointed to be a messenger of life to a family member who is straying from her walk with Christ. When God appoints you to a task, accept His appointment and fulfil what He has entrusted to you.
Years ago I heard it said that you would get a hundred men to join you in a bear hunt before you could get one man to join in a mouse hunt. I wonder if that still is true when we have so many soy boys who are still trying to figure out their pronouns. I am certain that people want to be challenged by great tasks, not with mundane tasks that make no difference when they are completed. People want to be part of something great, not something inconsequential. And our Lord has called each of us to the great task of building His Kingdom. Is there a greater task than discipling those who have been in darkness but are being brought into the Kingdom of Light? This is the work that our Lord has assigned to each of us, though the specific labour given to each one may differ.
With all my heart, I know that our Lord is speaking to hearts through this message this day. Some who hear my words at this time have heard the voice of Christ asking, “What is that in your hand?” Let Him use you, surrendering what is in your hand. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Encouragement, Foundation for a Better Life, See the 'Encouragement' Pass it On Commercial | The Foundation for a Better Life, accessed 29 May 2023
[3] “Preachers of the Past – ‘Uncle Bud’ Robinson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ns-aRnFxsE, accessed 9 July 2023
