Day 21 Excuses

Day 21         Excuses

 

The days sometimes would pass oh so slowly, even though I would busy myself with the mundane tasks of laundry, cooking, and earning a paycheck. Even though I would pour myself into church work, I would find myself still struggling to move forward. The work I did allowed me to pay the rent and buy groceries.  I was able to keep a clean house. I was  even able to smile at the neighbors and look fairly happy at church. I tried so hard to return to my former life… I tried to fill the emptiness with something.

The early days were spent serving in the church…helping in after school activities…going to ballgames…and writing. Why would any of these tasks be a problem you ask…they wouldn’t…if that is what God has placed in my hand to do. But if you are just doing these things to fill time…to run away from healing…then they are very wrong.  Like Moses, you might even try to start over in a new town, with a new family.  You will be very comfortable in this new world you have built for yourself…pleased that you had the power to survive.  People will even pat you on the back and tell you how touched they are that you are so strong.

Then one day you will be traveling with your flock of sheep toward a curious sight, a bush that seems to be burning.  God will speak to you from the bush…and tell you exactly what to do…. and you will make excuses.  Moses tells the wonderful story about his calling to bring the Israelites out of Eygpt.  In Exodus 3 we hear the voice of God himself call Moses to a new task.

Exodus 3:6-10

   ⁶Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

   ⁷And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

   ⁸And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

   ⁹Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

   ¹⁰Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses and all his excuses….he just kept asking God questions…. very well thought out questions by the way….that explained why he shouldn’t be chosen for such an important job.  God just keeps patiently answering his questions with simple statements that negate his points. But the last time he gives an excuse…in the form of a question…God asks him a question. He asks Moses what he held in his hand.

Exodus 4:2 

And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

 

Moses had just a simple rod, some versions of the bible call it a staff. Shepherds like Moses, used their staff to rescue sheep or walk in very unstable terrain. Moses had learned to use it well in the rough terrain of his father-in-law Jethro.  He had become a great shepherd and built the flocks of his new family.  He had hid his sin and pain for his people as he learned to care for the sheep of his new family.  How fitting that God chose to use this same instrument of rescue and strength to give Moses his final directions. This simple staff becomes a tool of rescue and strength for the next 40 years! Moses, who had run away and established himself as a great shepherd with a new family was called by God to go back to where he began and lead his people out of bondage.

I too, have built a new life with a new family. At this point…I am still waiting for God to rescue me. No burning bush has been placed in my path, no voices have spoken to me the directions for my next few days.  I must continue to search in his word, pray daily for guidance, and listen carefully to the friends he places in my pathway to help me each day.

I wonder what my staff will be. I hope I am focused and can see the burning bush when I pass by. He will tell me to take off my shoes…and listen to his directions for my life. And when I give my excuses to God…because I know I won’t feel worthy or prepared…I want him to chide me gently as he did Moses….and patiently give me the simple directions to exactly how he will want it to take place.