Who me? You’ve got to be joking!

So God has made his presence felt to Moses and now has something to talk to him about.

Good news! God has heard his people crying out and has seen their suffering and is going to do something about it! About time too!

I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:7,8

But oh no, this can’t be right. God’s Plan A involves Moses – Moses who was raised an Egyptian; Moses who could not control his anger and killed a man; Moses who has been away from the action for quite some time…….we’re with you, Moses – who do you think you are? Or more precisely, who does God think you are? Surely God has some better candidates for this role than Moses.

But that’s the way it is, isn’t it? God’s ways are not our ways, are they? God chooses the most unlikely superheroes. And sometimes we look at others and think ‘Who on earth do you think you are?’ ‘What makes you think you can do this?’ ‘You’re biting off more than you can chew here, pet!’  We are subconsciously waiting for them to fail and then we can say ‘I told you so. You tried your best. It really was a bit too ambitious, wasn’t it? Stick to the day job…..’

Or we are presented with a task that feels too high a mountain to climb. We feel inadequate and scared of failing and definitely not the right person for the job. We come up with all sorts of reasons and excuses why we cannot do it – we are too old or too young; not educated enough; rubbish at public speaking; too busy; too ordinary…….’No one will listen to me.’ ‘No one will take me seriously.’

That’s why I love this exchange between God and Moses in Exodus 3:7-4:17, because it is so human. Moses makes all the excuses that I would make. He wants God to act on behalf of his people, but doesn’t see himself as part of the solution –

Who am I, that I should go…….? Exodus 3:11

Suppose I go……then what……? Exodus 3:13

What if they do not believe me or listen to me? Exodus 4;1

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. Exodus 4:10

O Lord, please send someone else to do it. Exodus 4:13

But you know, the unlikely heroes are the best heroes – the likes of Stan Lee and the creators of Marvel and DC comics caught on to this pretty quickly – just look at Peter Parker and Clark Kent!

And how did God respond to Moses?

I will be with you. This will be a sign to you….. I AM WHO I AM sends you….the elders of Israel will listen to you…..I will perform wonders among them and the king of Egypt will let you go…..I will help you speak and teach you what to say…..

Reassuring words. God has a plan. God is in control. The plan will succeed. All that Moses has to do is trust. Of course, that’s the hardest thing in the world to do. So God gives him three physical signs to perform – the staff turning into a snake, his hand turning leprous when he puts it inside his cloak and water turning to blood.

It’s still not enough. Moses is still trying to wriggle out of it – and then God gets angry. He loses patience. It’s as if He is disappointed that He has to tell Moses about his brother Aaron coming to help him. Like a child pushing to know what their birthday presents will be and ruining the surprise because they do not trust their parents to get it right – if Nicola mentions that giant Gummi Bear again before her birthday on Sunday, I will scream! God had it all under control and yet Moses has to know every last detail – imagine if he had not pushed and Aaron had unexpectedly come to his side to help him….what an amazing affirmation that would have been!

We do this all the time – to each other and to God. We don’t trust our partners to get it right. We don’t trust our children to get it right. We want to know every last detail. We want to micro-manage everything that we are involved in. Our way may not be the only way, but it is the best way. We don’t trust anyone enough to surprise us and treat us and care for us in their own way.

And we struggle to trust God too. We question what is going on in our life and question God’s part in it. We think He’s getting it wrong. I really struggled with this when a friend of mine died in his mid-forties. He had so much left to live and give – surely there must be some mistake? Surely God had taken the wrong guy? I still don’t understand it. I don’t understand why some prayers seem to be answered straight away and others not at all. I don’t know why people seem to suffer beyond what they can endure. I don’t understand when God chooses the wrong person (in my opinion) to speak into a situation.

I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t need to. God has a plan. God is in control. I don’t need to know all the details. All I have to do is trust and obey each day, and God will see to the rest.

Trust and obey,

For there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey.

John H Sammis

This is the hymn that was being sung during my baptism all those years ago when I was 15. Life has not panned out at all as I thought it would back then. I have not been who I thought I would be. I have not achieved any of what I thought I would. I am a million miles away from where I thought I would be.

But God’s words of reassurance have been as true for me as they were for Moses –

I will be with you. This will be a sign to you….. I AM WHO I AM sends you….people will listen to you…..I will set you free…..I will help you speak and teach you what to say…..

– and that has to be good enough for me.