When God told Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses objected. He said, “I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Moses’ self-perception was that he was not able to do the job God asked of him, that he lacked the essential qualifications needed for success. While Moses’ self-assessment may have been correct—which would allow God to work through him despite his deficiencies—that may not have been the case.
We get a glimpse of how God viewed Moses through Stephen in a powerful speech he gave hundreds of years later. Speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen proclaims that Moses was “no ordinary child,” that he was “powerful in speech and action.”
It seems that God’s perception of Moses was in sharp contrast to Moses’ self-perception.
When we are called to do a difficult task, it could be that:
- God will use us for his glory even though we aren’t qualified
- God will grow us and help us become qualified
- God sees things differently and we actually are qualified
Regardless of our self-perception, we shouldn’t let that limit God. One way or another, he will work things out to accomplish what he calls us to do.
[Exodus 3:10, Exodus 4:10, and Acts 7:20-22]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
