August 3 - When A Nobody Meets A Somebody

When A Nobody Meets A Somebody

“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11

In Ted Engstrom’s, A Time for Commitment, he tells a powerful story of overcoming our disabilities: He tells how he smiled with delight when he read Art Linkletter’s story of Wendy Stoker, age 19, a freshman at the University of Florida. She was a young athlete. She placed third, just 2.5 points from first place, in the Iowa’s Girls’ State Diving Championship. She worked two hours a day for four years to get there. “Now she’s at the University of Florida,” he says. “She’s working twice as hard and has earned the number two position on the varsity diving squad. She’s aiming for the National Finals. Wendy carries a full academic load, finds time for bowling, and is an accomplished water skier. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Wendy Stoker is her typing. She bangs out 45 words a minute on her typewriter, with her toes!” And then he says, “Oh, did I fail to mention? Wendy was born without arms!”

We also, at times feel as though we are incapable because of our personal handicaps. Like Moses, we never know what to say when we are witnessing. Or, maybe some of us have some other form of disability that we feel will keep us from effectively doing God’s work, so we use that as our crutch to escape His calling.

Moses began to offer God multiple excuses as to why He could not be used in God’s greater plan.  Here are a few of them:

#1 – I am nobody.

Moses’ excuse: (3:11) Moses said that he couldn’t fulfill God’s call for him, because he was a nobody. While he had once been a prince, he was now just an insignificant shepherd living out in the desert. Who was he to go to someone so powerful and prestigious as the pharaoh, the ruler of what was then the world’s greatest and most powerful nation. God’s answer: First it is important to note that God did not deny Moses’ insignificance. He did not question the fact that compared with the greatness of the Pharaoh, Moses was a nobody. However, the evangelist A.E. Shuttlesworth sums it up when he says, “When a nobody meets a somebody, he can begin to touch everybody.” God answered in (3:12a) that He would go with Moses.

#2 – I have no authority.

Moses’ Excuse (3:13): Moses’ second excuse was that he didn’t have the authority to go. In that time, a name was more significant than it is today. The name included the entire character and authority of the person. So when Moses says that they will ask “What is his name?” His fear is that they will ask in whose authority he is coming. Of all the excuses Moses had, this one seems to be the most legitimate on the surface, because he had already tried to help his people, in his own strength, and their response (2:14) was “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” So Moses was only saying that they would have the same issue they had before.  God’s answer (3:14-16): Once again, God did not challenge Moses’ thought, that in himself, he did not have the authority to lead His people.

#3 – They won’t believe me

Moses’ excuse (4:1): Moses’ next excuse was that even after he told the people that God had sent him, they wouldn’t believe him. He thought maybe they would think he had either made it all up, or that he was crazy. Maybe they would think that he was seeing mirages out in the desert. The story would be, he thought, just a little hard for the people to swallow, and it involved taking a big risk. Note, that this fear was not that the Pharaoh wouldn’t believe him, but that the people themselves, who he was trying to free, wouldn’t believe him. God’s answer (4:2-9): God did not deny Moses’ claim that the people wouldn’t believe his story, because God knows that people love to doubt. Instead, He promises that He will convince the people. God loves taking our difficulties, current struggles and limitations and will use them  for His glory if we allow Him to do it. 

Leonardo da Vinci is remembered as the master who painted the Mona Lisa. Millions have viewed this masterpiece, but very few realize that what they’re looking at is actually the fourth attempt. X-ray technology shows that there are three completely different versions of the same subject under the final portrait. This portrait shows the determination of a man who would not stop until he got it right!  Moses was 80 when he took off his shoes and walked on holy ground. He could have quit, laid back....but instead...he turned his warm twig into a burning bush....you can too!

To live a life without excuses means to be part of the fellowship of the unashamed. What does that mean? Simply that we have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. We have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. We are His disciples. We won’t look back, let up, slow down, or back away.

Our past is redeemed, our present makes sense, our future is secure. We are finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals. We no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions or popularity.  That’s a good place to be, even if we feel like a nobody.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)     Have you ever felt like a nobody?  Where do you think that comes from?

2)     Name another Bible character who felt like Moses and God used even in his limitations?

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser