Who Am I
Exodus 3:11-12a ESV But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Children if Israel out of Egypt?” He (God) said, “I will be with you …”
In Exodus chapter 3 we find the story of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush. God commissions Moses to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of slavery. Moses is hesitant and responds, “Who am I …?” God’s never answers that question. Instead He assures Moses that He will be with him.
God was not ignoring Moses’ question. He was dealing the bigger issue that was behind the question Moses asked. It did not matter who Moses was. What mattered was that God was going to work through him.
This is an extremely important concept for Christians to grasp. When God calls us to do something it never matters who we are. What matters is who God is. When God calls us to do something the devil will often tell us we can’t. He will remind us of our weakness and our past failures. He will try to sow doubt and fear. In other words, the devil will try to get us to focus on ourselves.
God already knows who each of us is when He gives us a task. God knows our weaknesses and past failures. He also knows they are not obstacles to accomplishing the task unless we let them be. Our weaknesses are not too great that God cannot overcome them.
When God calls us to do something it is really Him doing it through us. He is allowing us to participate in the work He is doing. We have a role to play to be sure. We must let God work through us and we must actually do the thing but it is His strength, not ours, that will accomplish the task.
God regularly calls people to do things that are impossible for them. That way, when the task is successfully completed, God gets the glory. Look throughout the Bible. God called Moses who had a speech impediment to be His spokesman. He called a shepherd boy to be a king. He called a virgin to give birth. He called fishermen to lead His church and a Pharisee to be the apostle to gentiles.
None of those people were capable of doing the jobs God called them to do but God made it happen because they were obedient. When God calls you to do something it will likely be something you are unable to do. That is ok, because God is fully capable of doing whatever it is through you. Don’t look at who you are. Look at who He is.
Heavenly Father, You are THE awesome God! You are fully capable of doing whatever You want. You do not need my help but You know I need to be a part of Your plan so You allow me. Give the faith to trust that if You called me then You will empower me.