Month: January 2023

God called me, but I don’t know what to do!

How do you feel when you hear that God has a calling for your life? Encouraged? Scared? Confused?

How do you feel when you hear that God has a calling for your life? Encouraged? Scared? Confused?

Maybe you think: What if I mess up? Why did God pick me? What if I don’t want to do whatever it is? The idea that God has a call on our life is mystical, encouraging, and scary. If you feel this way you are not alone.

Moses had the same feelings in Exodus chapter 4. During his conversation with God at the burning bush when God tells Moses to bring Israel out of slavery. Moses tries to talk God out of it. I am just going to focus on verses 10-12.

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in the past, nor since You have spoken to your servant; for I am slow to speech and slow of tongue."

Obviously, God chose the wrong person. God was calling Moses to speak, but Moses was not a good speaker. 

11-12 And the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes people unable to speak or hear, able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.

Okay, maybe God did choose the right person.

I love the last part, I will…teach you what you are to say.

Teaching is different than telling.

Teaching is a process. Telling is a one time thing.

I believe this is true for you and I. God’s calling is a process of God teaching us what we are to do. God does not just drop a calling into our heart and sit back to see if we figure it out. God works in us and through us, teaching us the way in which we should go.

Sure it is scary. Of course it takes time. But God has designed us for this purpose, even if we don’t see it.

Let’s pray.

Jesus, thank you for calling us. Now make us students of your voice, so we can hear you teach us the way. Remind our excuses that You are the God who made us and called us. We know that if you began this work, then you will carry it on to completion. We love you! In your mighty name we pray. Amen.

Love and Blessin’s,

Dave

Turn Aside to Marvelous Distractions

Did you ever consider that Moses received his call from God through a marvelous distraction in his daily life?

Do you ever wonder how God calls people? Do you think there are too many distractions in the way of your calling? I love this scenario in Exodus:

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he fed the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to Him from the midst of the bush…

Exodus 3:1-4

Summary:

  • Moses is doing his normal job (tending the flock)
  • He saw something out of sorts (bush on fire but not consumed)
  • He turned to inspect (he was curious).
  • When God saw that Moses turned to look, THEN God called to him.

Ponderings:

Here are a few questions that resonate with me. Maybe they will with you also.

  • Am I overlooking any marvelous distractions?
  • Would I even notice something marvelous in my busy workday?
  • Even if I saw it, am I too busy to stop and look? Am I too busy to turn away from the “busyness” of my life to see if that thing happening just might be a marvelous distraction?
  • Is this the only time God set up a marvelous distraction to get Moses’ attention? Or were there other times where Moses didn’t take the time to turn and look?

I love that the call of God on Moses’ life came “when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look…”. God set up the distraction, but Moses still had to express some curiosity.

It is also important that Moses’ calling was not a career in flaming bushes. What God used to get Moses’ attention was not what God called Moses to.

While God calls people in many ways, I believe there is much to learn from this scenario.

May we take the time to notice the marvelous distractions around us, turn aside to look, and be open to the call God may have for us in that moment.

Love and Blessin’s,

Dave