Read: Exodus 3:11-12
Who am I? (v. 11)
Moses did not know who he was. Moses responded to God’s assignment with a question that reveals his insecurity: “Who am I? Will little old me deliver your people from Pharaoh?” Was Moses primarily the son of Amram and Jochebed (Exod. 2:1; 6:20; Num. 26:59) or the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exod. 2:10)? Was he the husband of Zipporah (Exod. 2:21)? The keeper of Jethro’s flock (Exod. 3:1)? How could these roles qualify him for the mission?
In truth, I ask these same questions. Am I the son of a truck driver and a housekeeper? Am I a husband and a father? Am I a preacher? A leader? I am all these things. But at my core, at your core, who are we? Who determines who we are?
The question “Who am I?” must be asked amidst two other questions: “Who is God?” and “What am I to do?” How we answer shapes how we live. The same question resonates acutely for many who are adopted or live as foreigners or move to a new place. God’s people slaving away in Egypt. Egyptian-educated Moses tending sheep in Midian. Who are we?
We glimpse the answer during another story. At Jesus’s baptism, a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Followers of Jesus believe our identity is defined by the one who made us and calls us. Who are you? You are God’s beloved child.
As you pray, thank God for calling you his beloved.
Rev. Jon Opgenorth serves as president of Words of Hope. Previously, he served for 18 years as senior pastor at Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. In preparation for ministry, he received a BA in Religion from Northwestern College, and an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary.
