Speaking the Truth in Love

Questions God Asks – Who Made Man’s Mouth?

Image result for moses   in the desertMoses has been tending sheep in the desert for 40 years. He isn’t really interested in God’s plan to send him back to Egypt to lead the Hebrews out of bondage. So he argues with God, posing one objection after another.

I’m not eloquent, Moses says. Biblical evidence argues otherwise. So why does he say this? Maybe Moses feels unprepared to address the Hebrews or the Egyptians after living in relative isolation for four decades. Or maybe he doesn’t think himself persuasive enough to assume leadership of the people who once rejected him.

God’s call to service often produces this uneasy feeling of inadequacy. Gideon says that he can’t deliver Israel from Midianite oppression because he is the weakest link in a weak family. Solomon says that youth and inexperience make him unfit for kingship. Isaiah feels too defiled to be a spokesman for the Holy One of Israel.

I’m no speaker, Moses says. But the Lord asks, “Who has made man’s mouth?” (Exod. 4:11). God is the Creator of earth and sky. He makes the mute, the deaf, the sighted, and the blind. He has made Moses’ mouth, and he will teach him what to say.

Image result for moses at the burning bushWho has made man’s mouth? Fascinating question. The answer is plain, but the implications make us stop and think. At the burning bush God isn’t commenting on the reason why people are born with or without disabilities. He’s telling Moses that his eloquence or lack of it makes no difference. If God calls someone to service, he equips him and supplies needed resources.

Jesus has called us to do all sorts of things in his body. We are to be givers, encouragers, comforters, helpers, organizers, evangelists, teachers, worship leaders, shepherds. My first response to the call to service may be negative. I feel so inadequate. Okay. But Christ is my sufficiency.

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