WATCHWORD:
10 Moses pleaded with the Lord, oh lord I’m not very good with words. I never have been and I am not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue tied, and my words get tangled. 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes a man not able to speak or hear? Who makes one blind or able to see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 So go now. And I will be with your mouth. I will teach you what to say.” 13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send anyone else.” Exodus 4:10-13
Meditation:
Please Send Anyone Else
My Bible study group is studying Exodus and in our last meeting I was asked to read a portion of Chapter 4, including the passage listed above. I have to say that these meditations included in Watchwords are, for the most part, the result of my reading other devotionals, the Bible, inspiration that I get from listening to other pastors, and life experiences. So equipped, I write the Meditation.
We all thought it was pretty hilarious when I read oh Lord I’m not very good with words. Then I thought, oh, is that the Lord sending me a message, that maybe I have been lax in giving credit to the Lord’s inspiration for what frequently appears in these devotionals? I’ll try to watch that in the future, Lord, but thanks for the heads-up.
But there’s another phrase in that passage that struck me — O Lord, please send anyone else. Have we ever been in that position? I mean you and I are moved to respond to the nudging of your Holy Spirit and you think all kinds of ways to get out of having to act. Don’t send me, I’ve got a hair-cut appointment. Don’t send me, this recliner is so comfortable and I am tired. Don’t send me, I might get Covid. Send my friend over there, or my wife or my husband. O Lord, please send anyone else.
How often are we going to ‘pass by on the other side’, as told in the parable of the Good Samaritan, and not respond before the guilt or the shame catches up with us? I once heard a preacher say that guilt and shame hurt us more than sin. I suppose that is right.
There is nothing that God is asking us to do that requires perfection. ‘I’m not very good with words’. That statement alone suggests I don’t trust God to equip me. And on we go, comparing ourselves to others and either we come up short, and feeling inadequate, or we come up feelings so superior. NOTE: Either one is a sinful attitude.
So, God says to us, I need you to show up. Just show up. Just be there. Why do we go to church? Do we do it for the blessing of the sermon, or the hymns, or having scripture read to us? One important reason we go to church is for the others. Supporting of our fellow Christians. It’s called fellowship. it’s not how we see ourselves, frail humans full of faults, that we are, it’s how God sees us.
As I write this meditation, I’m aware that this Watchword goes out in the morning. In the past, I’ve tried to write several Watchwords in advance in order to take some of the pressure off of myself, or have some time to work on my next story. But I’ve been busy, super busy, oh so busy!
Ever get that way? Too busy to relax, to do some things you really enjoy, maybe to do some traveling, some reading, a little golf? Are we too busy, to very busy, to answer God’s call? Come to think of it, that could’ve been Moses’ response. He could have said, “God, do you see all these sheep? They are my responsibilities! Get someone else. Maybe the Good Shepherd? Think on that one.
Come to think of it, possibly you are the ‘someone else’. Oh. So be it.
A Thought for the Day:
When we focus on what we don’t have, we risk missing out on watching God do great things with what we do have. — Our Daily Bread for June 27.
Prayer of Reliance:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me. I thank you for sending your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free. I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me.
Loving Father, touch me now with your healing hands, for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul, and spirit. Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. Cast anything that should not be in me. Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells.
Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body to heal and make new any diseased areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function. Touch also my mind and my emotion, even the deepest recesses of my heart.
Saturate my entire being with your presence, love, joy, and peace and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life. And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower me to do your works so that my life will bring glory and honor to your holy name. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
