Saying Yes to God: a Lesson from Moses
I have a nine-year-old son who loves to play video games. If I don’t intervene, he will spend a full day sitting in front of a screen, creating elaborate and intricate worlds in Minecraft. Time just slips away from him, and many times, when I ask him to turn off his game, he will continue to play, pretending that he doesn’t hear me. He will wait for me to ask a second or third time before he will grudgingly oblige and step away from the screen.
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Saying Yes to God
I like to think of myself as an obedient child saying yes to God, but how many times has God asked me to complete a task and I have waited to see if he asks again? To be honest, it’s usually more than the two or three times it takes my son to turn off his game.
I know I should jump into action immediately, and yet I don’t. Many times, my inaction stems from feeling inadequate or ill-equipped to complete the task, and I’ll tell myself that someone else will do it. Fortunately for me, I can find a similar example through the life of Moses.
Exodus 4:10-13:
10Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”
11The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Remember the miracles you’ve already seen.
Moses is in the middle of an encounter with God, hearing him speak out loud through a burning bush. He’s witnessing miracles from God. His staff is transformed into a snake and then back again the moment Moses obeys God’s command (Exodus 4:3-4). Moses’s hand turns white from leprosy and then is restored to its natural flesh, just by putting it in his pocket (Exodus 4:6-7).
Moses more than witnesses these miracles. He is an active participant, whose actions of faith show how trustworthy God’s word is.
He sees the snake and runs from it. His limb is changed right before his eyes. And yet Moses does not feel equipped to move forward with the plan that God is laying out for him. Moses has many fears and worries of the multitude of things that could go wrong, so he asks God to send someone else. He falsely believes that someone else will be better at completing the tasks that God has carefully and meticulously prepared for Moses to complete.
God has a plan for you - He doesn’t want someone else.
I want to be the type of person who jumps when Gods commands me to do something, but often, I act the same way that Moses does in this moment. “Please send someone else.”
I feel completely inadequate to accomplish the task laid out before me, so I hide. I tell God no. I cover my ears and pretend that I don’t hear what God is saying to me, and worse still, I don’t act when I know what God wants me to do.
But something funny happens when I start to obey when God asks. I start to feel less ill-equipped. I have more memories of things going right when I obey. I start to see the direct correlation of blessings to obedience. And it starts to get easier to act as soon as I’m told, rather than waiting to be told multiple times. Through Moses, we can see the truth of this the longer he walks with and obeys God.
Take the leap and trust God.
As we come to Exodus 7, verse 1 begins with “Then the Lord said to Moses,” followed by detailed instructions for Moses and Aaron to complete.
As we get to verse 6, we find Moses’ changed attitude toward God’s instructions: “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.” These sentiments are repeated throughout Exodus 7:
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded.
20Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.
At this point, Moses is no longer asking God to send someone else or giving excuses as to why he’s the wrong person for the job. He just does what the Lord commands him to do.
As a new believer, I had a lot of questions, a lot of reservations, and a lot of reasons why I wasn’t the right person to complete the tasks laid before me. And to be honest, as I’ve been on this journey for several years now, I still have a tendency to feel that way.
But like Moses, as I grow in my faith and my understanding of God’s character and trustworthiness, I can find the confidence to jump into action as soon as I’m told, saying yes to God when I hear His voice. I’m not there yet, but I pray that as I continue my walk with the Lord, I will mature as a follower in the same way that Moses did. And I pray the same for you.
Dear God, please help me to grow in my willingness to say yes when you ask and to jump in without hesitation.
I pray for the necessary discernment to know your voice unequivocally, and as I grow in my faith, I pray for your voice to become louder and louder in my life. Thank you for the example of Moses, so we can understand where we start our journey, but to also have a vision for what it can look like as we mature in our faith. May I grow more and more like Moses, the longer I walk in your presence. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, amen.
Saying yes to God can seem like one of the scariest actions to take, but it’s actually the safest place to be. God’s plans for us are good, and it’s our job to trust and obey Him. I hope you find as much comfort in that as I do.
Blessings Friend.
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