411 Newsflash

The 4/11 verse for the day is from Exodus 4:11, "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. 'Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD?"

Here's a little 411 newsflash for us: When God chooses to use us, we best let him. Fear or inadequacy may make us feel like we can't be used by God. We would be wrong.

How likely was it that God would use Moses to free his people, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt? The man had commited murder, fled to the wilderness to hide and tend sheep for forty years, and had a speech impediment to boot! Had the Israelites been able to have an election to choose the man God would choose to deliver them, I don't think Moses' resume would have put him at the top of their list. Yet, God insisted that Moses was, indeed, his man for the job. No matter how ill equipped he believed himself to be, it wasn't really about him or what he could or couldn't do. It was about what God could and would do through him, if he just answered the call. Moses just had to say "yes".

While Moses was nothing special, God certainly worked through him to do special things. At first, Moses protested that he wasn't good enough to do what God was asking. He used the excuse that he wasn't a good speaker and, therefore, could not be the spokesperson to go talk to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelite people go. God countered that it didn't matter; He would equip, guide and empower Moses to do what was required. Moses still made excuses and, finally, God gave him additional help through his brother Aaron, who was a good speaker.

It's funny how God eliminates all of our lame excuses when we follow his will for our lives. Not only will he equip us for anything he asks us to do, but, like Moses, he will even give us a PR person to help get the job done. We can be assured that, if he wants us to do something, it's not because we are so great, anyway. It's because He is great and he wants to do great things through us for his glory.

So, what have you been telling God you're not capable of doing? What excuses are you making? What fears do you have? God's 411 for us today might be that, despite our perceived weaknesses, he still wants to use us to accomplish his purposes. It's really not about us and what we can't do...it's about God and what he CAN do.