“Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ “The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So, he threw it on the ground, and it turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”— so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his hand —“so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So, he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you nor pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the [evidence of the last sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the dry ground.” Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and [slow of tongue.”But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.” But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be overjoyed. So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you, and you will be as God to him. And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.” Then Moses departed.” (Exodus 4:1-18a NASB)
It has been a busy week, but busy is good when you are doing God’s work. Amen? We agree on that, and I am sure that you will concur with the fact that often when God gives us specific instructions, spelled-out directions, or when He sets us apart for some important work, work that may seem insignificant or even impossible in our minds, we come up with excuses. Who am I referring to when I make that statement? All of us, including yours truly.
Case in point, I was conversing with the chief administrator at our church, one who leads by example, and tireless work behind the scenes. As we talked, I told her, “We may not have PowerPoint slides to accompany the sermon this coming Sunday. I’m too tired.” With compassion, consideration, and complete empathy, she responded, “Look! We went 30 years without PowerPoint.” I felt I was off the hook! But guess what? (You know by now, this is where you say, “What?) The Lord said otherwise. I could feel the Spirit telling me, “You have plenty of time. Do what people expect of their leader.” God extinguished my excuse. My mind started focusing on the passage above where Moses offered various excuses to God. As with me, God ended the excuse making, not only for Moses, but for the people who would see the signs that God gave him.
The bottom line: “Excuses? There are none!” This statement pertains to doing what God tells you to do, whether in a position of leadership or followership. So, realizing that fact, I went ahead and made my PowerPoint slides for Sunday.
What has God asked you to do? Well, if you have been procrastinating, hesitating, or debating with excuses that delay you from being submissive to what God wants of you, I’ll say it for a third time in today’s meditation: “Excuses? There are none!” By the way, don’t make any excuse that will keep you from being in the assembly of the saints tomorrow. Be blessed!
“When you are good at making excuses, its hard to excel in anything else.” (John L. Mason)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King