If you grew up in the church, you know what I mean when I say "What's your favorite Bible story?" We all have them. The stories you were told at VBS when you were younger-Joshua, Noah, Jonah...etc. Maybe it was all the colorful animals in Noah's Ark-that used to be my favorite! Or you love the idea of living inside of a big fish like Jonah did. Trust me, ask any 6 year old what their favorite Bible story is, and just enjoy the answers you get.
We kind of grow out of those kind of Bible stories as we get older. Instead of the fun tales of childhood, our favorite Bible stories start to be ones where we sympathize with the character. They take on more meaning than the simple stories with the fun songs that captured our minds as children. I am realizing that as much as I loved the idea of a giant boat with hundreds of different animals on it, and a rainbow at the end as a kid, I would be a little afraid of the animals, hate the smell, and be tired of being cooped up inside a boat for 40 days. Very recently, I have had Moses on the brain. We have talked about him and his parents in church the past two Sundays, and even shared a quick bit about him and his brother Aaron on Wednesday in Bible class. And I am beginning to understand that God is using me like Moses. I never really had a Bible character that I really connected to before, it all seemed kind of like a stretch for me. But Moses, he makes sense to me.
Maybe I wasn't ever raised in a palace persay, but I sure acted like I was in high school. God has used college to humble me, just like he used the desert to humble Moses and prepare him for his next stage of life.
In Exodus 3, God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him that he has seen the way the Israelites suffer under their slave drivers and is concerned for them. He tells Moses that He is sending him to rescue the people of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. I think what I empathize most with the story of Moses is in verse 11 of chapter 3, when he says "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Later, in chapter 6, God tells Moses to go back to Pharaoh and he again says "Since I speak with faltering lips, why should Pharaoh listen to me?"
I am nothing. Moses went from the highest place to being absolutely nothing. Yet God goes to him, understanding his new position, and chooses to send him to the most powerful person in Egypt to rescue people from slavery.
I know exactly what Moses is saying when he says he speaks with faltering lips. Sometimes when I'm talking to people, it feels like my brain freezes and I can't get the words out to say what I mean. And when I'm speaking publicly, I say "um" a lot-something I'm trying to improve on. My words seem so miniscule and meaningless. But somehow, God has seen fit to come to me and give me opportunities to do something great. He isn't sending me to speak to the President or anything (although, I may have just jinxed myself), but he has pushed me smack in the middle of the issue of human trafficking. He placed a fiery passion inside of me for these people who are forced into a wicked situation, given me just enough resources to tell others about it, and provided a way for me to present a seminar to my church family. And let me tell you, I am terrified of using my faltering lips to share the news this weekend.
But God doesn't just say "too bad, suck it up and go do what I told you." He says "I will be with you." He reassures Moses that he is right there next to him, no doubt feeding him the lines as to what to say. There have been many times where I feel like I have no possible way to talk about something, but suddenly I give a good answer. I know that God has used these faltering lips to do some tiny bit of good. And I have no doubt that He will continue to do so-on Saturday, this next school year, and hopefully in a job one day.
If God can appear to Moses in a burning bush out in the desert and use him to take down a power hungry slave-owner, he can use me to influence the work of many and work toward stopping the wickedness all over the world that we see in modern day slavery. I count my blessings that God has seen me fit to walk beside Moses in his search for justice and freedom. And on days when I'm at my lowest, I know that there is purpose because I have a fire for seeing the liberation of many, just like my Savior.
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