But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not
very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have
spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a
person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do
not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now
go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” Exodus 4:10-12
When I was growing up, gym shoes were not the fashion statement
they are today. Back then, the most
popular shoes were ‘Converse All-Stars.’
All the basketball players had them, and when the man they called ‘Dr
J.’ Julius Erving was caught wearing them on the court, they were the craze of
the neighborhood. Then as I got into
high school, some little off brand caught my eye. They were called, Nike, and they had this
swoosh emblem. It looked kinda cool, but
nothing really took off. Then, they
became the ‘in’ thing when Michael Jordan became their spokesman. However, that only got the company part way.
Then the thing that tipped the scales to make Nike a universal brand was neither
an athlete nor a sport. It was a
saying. It’s something anyone who ever
questioned themselves or worried about failure could relate to. It’s the thing that they tried to teach us in
the story of ‘The Little Train That Could.’
It is the thing people heard when they faced undaunting odds and the
voice I heard as a freshman in high school waking up to go to school while my
mom was in the hospital. Three simple words; just do it. They have them on many shirts they sell, and
you can almost hear it being said every time you see the emblem. It is also at times the words God whispers to
us when an idea comes to mind or we are too cautious to move or act on His word. Just Do It.
God wants you to walk with the firm belief that you can
indeed achieve what you may perceive is impossible. How often has God both looked at and given us
what seemed to be an impossible task?
And then as we walked, how often did we look to God, and asked how can
this happen? This is where we find Moses
today. At this point in the story, God
had now appeared to Moses, and confirmed that He is the God of Abraham. God had also reaffirmed that He will be with
Moses every step of the way. With all
this being said, Moses was still not convinced he can lead the Israelites from
Egypt, and now he was trying to convince himself he was not the perfect
messenger for God. “I get tongue-tied,
and my words get tangled,” he said (Exodus 4:10b). I really enjoyed reading this discussion
between Moses and God because it shows how God can build anyone up to lead His
people. It also shows how we often want
to shy away from the light of God and will use any possible reason to do so
(I’m not a good speaker? Really?). God shushes (yes, I used that word) Moses
once again, saying “Now go! I will be
with you as you speak, and instruct you in what to say.” This was that Nike moment. Just Do It, Moses! Quit telling me who you are not because ‘I
Am.’
God can make a way at times when we cannot see it. This is not either to say that God will do
everything you want to do because He will not or to start a surety test to
confirm God is with you. But if you want
the one true living God to be with you, maybe now is the time to stop making
the excuses on the things you know He asks of you. Maybe God is tired of our excuses for not
being able to do something. If God is
asking something of you today, yesterday, or maybe even months ago, don’t say,
“I don’t know what to say.” Instead,
say, “Father, I trust you will give me the right guidance.” What barriers are you putting up for yourself
to stop you from achieving God’s glory?
Where has doubt stolen what God wants from you? My prayer is that we acknowledge those things
God wants from us, and simply, ‘Just Do It.’
Amen.
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