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| Devotional For November 2003 |
| Exodus 4: 10 - 13 10. Moses said to the LORD, O 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. 11. The LORD said to him, Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12. Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. 13. But Moses said, O Lord, please send someone else to do it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was reading the book of Exodus recently when I came across the above verse which made me really think about my own reactions to particular circumstances in my life since I committed my life to Christ. In a way it was a comfort to see that even Moses struggled emotionally and felt inadequate on many occasions with regard to God's expectations of him - at these times he was focusing more on his own weaknesses than on putting his complete faith and trust in God to help him overcome his fear of taking on a leadership role over the Israelites. I am sure we have all been there and done that and instead of relying on the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit we have allowed ourselves to be taken over by all our fears and worries by which time we have convinced ourselves that we cannot do what we feel God is asking of us. We will inevitably get times like this throughout our Christian journey (we are human after all) but we must ensure that we do not let them discourage us in any way and that we hold on to the thought that in our time of weakness God will see us through and He will equip us along the way with the words, the strength, the courage and the ability to do His will. I think to be honest I do know from my own experiences that having the faith and trust to put my life solely and completely in God's hands has, on occasions, been very difficult but "Praise God" the Holy Spirit has always come to my rescue and pointed me in the right direction either through the "Word of God" or through the support of clergy and fellow Christians. Some good advice was given me recently and that is "When we dwell on our selves our sight is directed down, when we think of God our gaze is directed away from ourselves to God. We must stop looking at ourself and look to God in prayer, by reading the scriptures, believing and resting in Christ. We should praise God always especially at the times when we really do not feel like it." On reflection I could see that this did make sense and that when our sights are directed towards our own worries or fears then we leave no room in our lives for God and we can become self-centred. Whereas when we begin to think of God and look to God for our strength through "perseverance", "prayer"and, of course, the "reading of God's Word" then we will soon realise that to gain and grow in spiritual strength we do have to "let go and let God" and discover for ourselves that nothing is impossible and everything is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit within us When we rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit as opposed to dwelling on our own weaknesses then we WILL overcome our fears or worries and begin to move forward with the power of God before us. God Bless Chris |