Read: Exodus 4:10-17
Please send someone else. (v. 13)
If I had seen a burning bush, been given staggering promises, and seen undeniable signs, I would respond like Isaiah, “Here I am! Send me” (Isa. 6:8). Wouldn’t you? More likely, I would have been next to Moses saying, “Send someone else.”
Like a child, Moses cannot imagine doing what has not yet been done. And like a parent, God grows angry with Moses but does not give in. Moses will do this hard thing, despite his hesitation. A good parent knows a child possesses the capacity to solve the math problem, and won’t let the child off the hook. She helps any way she can short of doing the homework herself. Folk singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer echoes this thought in a song: “You can do this hard thing. It’s not easy I know, But I believe that it’s so. You can do this hard thing.”
God provides what Moses needs at every turn. He does not remove the call because Moses is afraid. Aaron can speak. When God gives us a mission that we have not yet done and we fear to do, he knows already we can do it with his power, presence, and provision.
Jesus knew this promise. He took on the hardest thing of all: bearing the cross for the sin of the world. He begged the Father to take it from him (Luke 22:42). The Father refused. No excuses. You can do this hard thing. Friend, what hard thing is the Father asking of you today?
As you pray, ask the Father to grant you the courage to do the hard thing that you are prone to fear.
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.
