Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (NIV)

I love the humanity of Biblical heroes. I think God shows them to us, warts and all, in order to remind us that He is not sending out perfect people. He is sending out imperfect people with a perfect God to work in a perfect plan.

The story in Exodus 3 and 4 is a familiar one. After Moses blows it in Egypt at age 40, he goes to the wilderness of Midian to hide from Pharaoh (he thinks). I believe that God really had Moses there to grow. So 40 years later, it’s time. At the end of Exodus 2 verses 23 and 24 tell us:

“23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.” (NLT)

God knew it was time to act, enter Moses.

God get’s Moses’ attention again by appearing to him from a burning bush, except it wasn’t really burning which is why Moses got interested. God tells Moses the plan and Moses immediately comes up with all the reasons he shouldn’t go.

Exodus 3:11 (NIV) “11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?””

Exodus 3:13 (NIV) “13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?””

Exodus 4:1 (NIV) “Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Exodus 4:10 (NIV) “10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

And finally, the last straw and the real truth:

Exodus 4:13 (NIV) 13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Can’t you just hear him, “But I don’t want to go!!!!” “Don’t make me do that!” “That’s not fair!”

I hear things like this from my son all the time. I know why the next verse tells us God got angry, the thing I don’t understand is why He didn’t get angry sooner. I would have. I’m not sure I would have made it past excuse number 2 without yelling, “WILL YOU JUST TRUST ME???” The painful part of this though is the realization that God hears this from me too.

For as long as I can remember I have loved music. You could say that music has been my life especially for the last 15 years or so. Everything I did in ministry revolved around music. I sang in the choir, sang on the Praise Team, I led preschool choir. For VBS, I was often asked to help with music is some form. Music was my ministry. Music was my life. Then I developed some vocal damage due to complications from illnesses and medical conditions and I had to stop singing. It was like my entire world had been ripped out from under me. I was devastated.

During this time of recovery (and I have mostly recovered now), I had one friend in particular who tried to encourage me with these words, “I think God is leading you to another area of ministry.” I very distinctly remember having the very same reaction every time she said it, “But I don’t wanna go!” I never said it out loud. I don’t know if my friend knows this is what I was thinking or not because all I did was smile and nod. I didn’t look for a new ministry. I didn’t want a new ministry. I wanted my old ministries back. I wanted my life back, just the way it was before.

I can picture Moses having a similar inner monologue going on. Maybe it was something like, I’m happy here in Midian. I have a quiet life as a shepherd with lots of time to think about God. I have a great family now. I love my wife and my sons and I’m one of the rare people who gets along great with my in-laws. I tried helping out in Egypt and look what that got me. I’d rather stay here where I’m comfortable.

Ugh…

I did it…

I went there…

I want to be comfortable…

I wanted to be comfortable too. The music ministry was comfortable for me. I felt prepared there. I felt gifted there. I was well trained in music, it was a safe place. The problem is that God doesn’t call us to be comfortable, He calls us to be faithful. God wouldn’t let me stay comfortable and He wouldn’t let Moses stay comfortable either.

Exodus 4:14 (NIV) Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses fought hard against God and it made his journey much more difficult. I know the feeling, I did the same thing…

Holding onto my plan and my dream led down a path of depression, sometimes to the point of despair, and damaged relationships. I made it difficult for me, for my family, and for my friends. That process was much harder than God wanted it to be because I fought so hard against it. I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t just trust.

Moses did the same thing and his consequences were far reaching. Moses’ excuses gave him a big problem. God responded in a way that took care of the excuse, but it also greatly limited Moses’ power and authority. Vs 15 You [Moses] shall speak to [Aaron] and put words in his mouth… every single time… Vs 16 [Aaron] will speak to the people for you as if he were your mouth and you were God to him… every single time… Do you wonder if Moses ever got tired of not being able to directly address the people? Do you wonder if God answered back, “I told you so…”

Moses could never again move without Aaron. He needed Aaron to speak. Can you imagine? Come here Aaron, I have a message from God for these people. Hey Aaron, I need you! I have something else to say. Moses even lost the privilege of doing the miracles. Now Aaron gets to have all the fun.

Exodus 4:30-31a (NIV) “and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed.”

I can only wonder how many times Moses kicked himself for fighting against God and being in that situation.

God’s plan will be accomplished. He wants to do it the easy way, but it will happen, even if it’s the hard way. I’ve experienced that part too. My friend was right. Even with all my protests, God was moving me to a new ministry. I now teach Sunday School to 5th graders. The kids have been a tremendous blessing to me and I know I am where God has led me to be. God has used this new place to help me grow spiritually and to develop relationships with kids that help them to grow too. I just wish I had gone there the easy way.

So what place is God taking you that you don’t want to go? Are you going to do it the easy way or the hard way?