Inabilities

Inabilities

“My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Exodus 3:10-15

 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.

 11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

 12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

 13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.”

In the 19th century, a young child of the King heard a Bible teacher say, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is totally surrendered to Him.” That young man was Dwight L Moody. He said to himself, “I want to be that man.” Moody became one of the greatest evangelists of his day.

When the seeking eyes of the Father found Moody, He found a man whose “availability” far exceeded his “ability.” But Moody’s ability mattered not at all. Because the Father can do a lot with very little, if He has it all.

D.L. Moody had a 5th-grade education. Moody was born in 1837 in Northfield, MA. When his father died at the age of 41, he left his widow in poverty. Mrs. Moody tried to keep her family of nine children not only together, but together in Sunday School.

Moody became a successful shoe salesman by the age of 17. On the night of April 21, 1855, Edward Kimball, his Sunday school teacher, asked Moody to commit his life to Christ in the back room of the shoe store. Moody accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord.

Moody was severely limited with the English language. He could not spell correctly and his grammar was in a word, atrocious. People were appalled when they heard him speak. As a layman, the first time he stood up to speak as a young man, one of the deacons suggested that although his zeal was noteworthy, his greatest service to the Father would be to simply keep quiet.

Another naysayer pleaded with him to recognize how severe his limitations were. He said, “You make too many mistakes in grammar.” He listened with patience and replied, “I know I make mistakes, and I lack many things, but I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got.” He then quietly looked at the disparager and pointedly asked, “Look here, friend, you’ve got grammar enough. What are you doing with it for the Master?”

The Father is always looking for children of the King who will overlook their limitations, and choose to take what they have and commit it in service to Him.

Ezekiel 22:30 I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.

REFLECT & PRAY

“Before we pray that God would fill us, I believe we ought to pray Him to empty us” (D.L. Moody).

Father when I look at my own ability, I recognize how little is possible. But when I look at Your ability, I realize that all things are possible.

INSIGHT

When Moses saw the burning bush, he was at first curious and then entranced. He was irresistibly drawn to the burning flame, like a moth to bright light.

Exodus 3:2-4

 2 Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.

 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

 4 When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

The Father gave Moses the greatest task on earth since the time of the flood. It was seemingly impossible for Noah to build the ark according to the Father’s specifications, but he did it anyway. No one had ever built anything like it. Noah was not an engineer, nor a carpenter, but it didn’t matter at all. He was energized and enabled by the greatest intelligent designer and carpenter that ever lived.

Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.

Like Noah, the Father asked Moses to do something that was seemingly impossible. Moses was quite intimidated, overwhelmed in fact. He could not imagine any scenario in which he would be able to free the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage. What power on earth could ever conquer mighty Egypt and free the Hebrew slaves? Surely not one man with only a shepherd’s staff, the sandals on his feet, and the clothes on his back.

Moses didn’t just question the Father, he argued with Him. Surely the Father had the wrong guy. He could not do any of the things that the Father asked of him. He had no ability whatsoever, and he knew it.

He sounded like a motorboat: but, but, but.

Exodus 3:10-15

 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.

 11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

 12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

 13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

The objections that Moses recorded in Exodus probably only skimmed the surface of his grave doubts and challenges to the Father’s assignment.

Once again it mattered not a whit to the Father. Every challenge was met by a specific promise and new information that Moses was privileged to be the first person in history to ever know.

Can you imagine, since the creation of the world, up until the time of Moses at the burning bush, circa 1450 BC, no human being knew God’s name? Sure they had words for God: Elohim, and Lord: Yahweh, Adonai. But what was His name? Moses had the boldness and good sense to ask, so the Father told him.

Exodus 3:14-15

 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you

Message received, assignment accepted, and the rest is history!

Hebrews 11:27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.

Noah, Moses, and D. L. Moody shared the same open secret: “It’s not about you!”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

 9 “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses . . .. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

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