By Andrew Stoddard
Then Moses answered, “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?
Moses replied, “My smartphone, Lord.”
And God said unto Moses, “Good. Begin working on increasing your platform immediately. It is true that the people will not believe you now, but if you can double your Twitter following and increase the reach of your Instagram account, then the people will respect you as a leader. If you can angle your way into a better job with a more important title, then my people will hear your voice and respond. If you can make just a little more money, or be seen as the most powerful man in the room, then the people of Israel will follow you. If you buy better clothes and wear nicer shoes, then my people will know you are called to be their leader.”
This is a paraphrase not so much of the Bible, but of the human heart.
Sometimes if feels more natural to seek leadership and influence not by the power of God, but by our own strength and will. Clearly, God would never say something like this; but I think the desire to make our own name great runs deep. It can trick us into thinking that the pursuit of glory in the name of God is the same thing as glorifying God. It can also trick us into becoming much more comfortable with relying on our talents and strengths than on the supernatural power of God.
One of my favorite professors in seminary always challenged us to search our hearts and think clearly about our motives and methods for approaching leadership positions. His basic premise was this: if you feel like you’ve smooth-talked or influenced (or platform-ed) your way into a position of leadership, then it’s hard to know if you weaseled your way into power or if God has actually called you to that place. Working your way to leadership through your own strength could actually pay off in the short run, but when the going gets tough, it’s highly likely that you’ll waver.
The best positions of leadership are the ones you know you couldn’t have attained without the intervention of the Most High.
Moses was in such a place. There was no way that he could have confronted Pharaoh and triumphed because of his bravado. There was no way the Israelites would’ve have followed him on account of his clever speeches or military prowess. The only way Moses could account for progress was by the hand of God.
It was the same for Aaron! “No one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5.4).
Moses succeeded because he knew that it was really God who was paving the way for change and redemption. The signs of the staff and the leprous hand were proof not just to Pharaoh’s court, but also to Moses, that God was doing this work.
We can’t force God’s hand. We can only follow His lead. With that in mind, we should examine our own hearts and motivations. A good thing done for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way can have disastrous results. How are you caring for your family? Your co-workers? Your friends? Are you operating out of a place of self-contrived power? Or do you seek divinely given influence?
Man may be impressed by the outward appearance, but remember—God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
Written By Andrew Stoddard
71 thoughts on "God Equips Moses"
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Scott Schulman says:
The Gospel saves me from my own ambition and to humility in Christ. He’s the only one who can do anything through me.
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I can do no good thing apart from God.
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Lord, give me humility in my soul. Help me not to be proud about what I do, but about who you are.
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Enjuju says:
Am I really pursuing glory in the name of God, or am I truly glorifying God?
Maybe whee I am now in SCDA is not because of how my abilities are not because of Gods grace and purpose?
Am I joining RCS for the wrong reasons? Or am I truly wanting to seek the mission field?
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Search myself to know my motives.
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God’s glory belongs to him. And not for me.
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God is powerful God, able to do amazing things beyond the imagination.
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The i truly understand my motives.
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Braden Condray says:
God is abundantly gracious, merciful, and patient with us. Even someone who we lift up as a paragon of the faith, Moses, was stubborn, sinful, selfish, and distrusting of God, but God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, chooses to use broken and sinful people and is committed to His plan to redeem and restore us!
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We are so hesitant, even unwilling, to place our faith in the only One who is truly faithful, our trust in the only One who is perfectly worthy of it. We, like Moses, are far more prone to excuse ourselves for one reason or another than to trust what God says, because we are so prone to rely on ourselves and our own ability rather than His. But if we would just believe God and step out in faith, we would find that He is ready and willing to abundantly provide for what He has called us to do.
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I will stop seeing things from the perspective of my own power and my own ability. If we’re honey with ourselves, even what power and ability we think we have is an illusion. I will trust that what God says is true, and will rely on His power and depend on Him completely.
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Believing the Gospel means coming to the end of ourselves and understanding that we can never do it on our own. It brings us to the end of self-reliance and makes us totally dependent on God, as we were designed to be in the first place. We recognize that we come up short every time, and so it brings us to a place of total reliance on what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
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Father, I thank you that you are sufficient for us. I thank you that, even when we don’t see it, you are pursuing us and bringing us to a place of desperation for and dependence on you. I pray that you would increase our faith, that you would show us again our own inability and bring us to a place of relying completely on yours. All power and glory and honor belong to you and you alone. Help us to trust you enough to answer your call even when we can’t see the means by which you will accomplish what you are calling us to. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
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Dalton says:
this teaches me that God is the leader whether or not i put Him there. i just need to be better at respecting His authority because the trueness of God is that He is power and will make His desires without help. my desire is to serve Him and if i actually follow His will, He can use me!
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this teaches me that our whole story, the story of history is a part of the Gospel and it is simple that we NEED God and what only He can do for us.
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this ‘teaches’ me about the selfishness and pridefulness that we carry with us. and our fear of what may happen if we are in control of all we do
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i will step forward in knowing i cannot do it in my own power and if it feels like i am, i need to step down and let God lead
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i will pray to be humble, and that God would show me the way to go and what to say
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Aaron says:
Man seems to rely more on proof than on faith.
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I will be open to receive wisdom and let the Lord work through me.
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