“What if I’m not believed?” Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
Have you ever wanted to share a truth but were afraid no one would believe you? Has that fear ever hindered you, or even stopped you in your tracks?
Read Exodus 4:1-9
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is 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.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
Moses was there, talking to the Lord in a burning bush, and Moses was real.
He was afraid of what others might think. He was afraid of how they might react. He wanted something viable, some tangible proof so that others would believe him.
Ever been there?
God knows our hearts, just as He knew Moses. God gave Moses some tangible signs to share.
Why?
God loved Moses, just as He loves each of us. I believe part of the reason for the gift of tangible evidence was that love.
God could have cured Moses of his speech impediment, but He didn’t.
He did offer not one, but three signs of tangible proof something or someone miraculous was as work here.
Have you ever seen “tangible signs” that God is at work?
It may not be a stick turning into a snake, but maybe a slithery character turning his heart to God.
Maybe you have not seen health, disease , and healing in rapid succession, but you have seen people survive against all odds. Maybe you have seen someone’s heart heal after a torturous ordeal. Both are miracles.
Both are evidence that God is reaching out to us and He loves us immensely.
We need to keep our focus on God, and not on others. When God wants to utilize us to convince or lead others, He will always provide what we need.
We just need to offer Him ourselves and our obedience.
Reflections:
1) To you, how important is God’s opinion of you?
2) Compare that answer to the level of importance you place on other’s opinions of you.
3) If the scale is not on God’s side, spend some more time with Him. The more time we spend with God, the less other’s opinions matter.
An additional reference: The children’s book, You Are Special, by Max Lucado. Although this is a children’s book, the message is one most adults need to read over and over again throughout our lives.
Thanks for reading! Lord willing, the next post, “But I don’t want to!”, will be posted for Friday, May 2.