I am posting the following in response to a conversation I just had with a fellow minister whom I love very much. I hope it will encourage all who read it to serve the Lord with gladness.
Moses encounter w/ God in the burning bush in Exodus 3 reminds me of two misperceptions I must guard against or run the risk of failing to fulfill God’s call on my life. The first issue is related to his perception of himself and the second is related to his perception of ministry.
Moses misperception about himself is revealed in two phrases which he uttered. The first was a statement he made about himself and the second, a question he asked about himself. He said, “Here am I” but he then asked “who am I?” Moses knew where he was but he didn’t know who he was. In this passage I discover that Moses identity crisis resulted from defining himself in terms of his gifts and position, or perhaps more accurately, in terms of his perceived lack of giftedness and lack of position. His response to God’s call was, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah?”; the obvious underlying thought being, “I have no title, power, or authority, I am just a shepherd in Midian.
Later his argument was, “I can’t go. I’m not a gifted speaker”. But it’s not like God didn’t know about Moses lack of position and his speech impediment. We don’t find God responding, “You know, Moses, you’ve got me thinking. I completely overlooked the fact that you aren’t the leader of a great nation with a powerful military force. I also forgot about your speech impediment. I don’t know what I was thinking.” But Moses lack of position & giftedness wasn’t an issue to God. I’ll get to why in a moment.
What lies at the heart of Moses identity crisis is his failure to define himself primarily, and ultimately, in terms of whose He was. He was asking the question, “Who am I?” when the real issue was not who he was, but whose he was. When God began to speak to Moses he revealed Himself in terms of His relationship to Moses. He said, “I am the God of your father…” which meant I am YOUR God. You belong to me. My identity needs to be wrapped up in my relationship to God as his child. Moses went wrong by defining himself in terms of his function/personality/position instead of his relationship to God. There will always be reasons to be insecure if we define ourselves in terms of function/personality/position, but never any reason when defined in terms of our relationship to God as his children. Our sense of identity, of who we are, has to be firmly grounded in whose we are.
The second issue that hindered Moses was his perception of ministry as being something God was calling him to go and do rather than as allowing God to do His work through him. Moses retort, “Who am I to go and deliver the Israelites?” was based on the faulty assumption that he was the deliverer. God said, “I have come down to rescue them…” If Moses was the deliverer than position & natural ability might have been critical. But God was going to rescue them, and he chose Moses to be his instrument. Moses reluctance to obey was due to the fact that he was more concerned with who he was, or wasn’t, rather than who God was! The locus of Moses faith was in himself, not God! There is a world of difference between viewing ministry as something we are doing for God as opposed to something God is doing through us! In the former case the effectiveness or success relies upon us and in the latter it relies upon God. I, personally, am much more comfortable with it relying upon God. The ministry should be about who God is rather than who we are!
In short, we need to move from focusing on thoughts of “who I am” to “whose I am” and “who He is.” Our understanding of the first will be faulty & problematic unless built upon the foundation of the others.
Dear Lord,
Help me to always ground my identity (who I am) in my relationship to You as Your Son (whose I am). Help me understand how great a love has been bestowed upon me that I should be called a child of God! Help me to always be more concerned & consumed with knowing who you are than who I am. May my God-consciousness be far greater than my self-consciousness.
Moses encounter w/ God in the burning bush in Exodus 3 reminds me of two misperceptions I must guard against or run the risk of failing to fulfill God’s call on my life. The first issue is related to his perception of himself and the second is related to his perception of ministry.
Moses misperception about himself is revealed in two phrases which he uttered. The first was a statement he made about himself and the second, a question he asked about himself. He said, “Here am I” but he then asked “who am I?” Moses knew where he was but he didn’t know who he was. In this passage I discover that Moses identity crisis resulted from defining himself in terms of his gifts and position, or perhaps more accurately, in terms of his perceived lack of giftedness and lack of position. His response to God’s call was, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah?”; the obvious underlying thought being, “I have no title, power, or authority, I am just a shepherd in Midian.
Later his argument was, “I can’t go. I’m not a gifted speaker”. But it’s not like God didn’t know about Moses lack of position and his speech impediment. We don’t find God responding, “You know, Moses, you’ve got me thinking. I completely overlooked the fact that you aren’t the leader of a great nation with a powerful military force. I also forgot about your speech impediment. I don’t know what I was thinking.” But Moses lack of position & giftedness wasn’t an issue to God. I’ll get to why in a moment.
What lies at the heart of Moses identity crisis is his failure to define himself primarily, and ultimately, in terms of whose He was. He was asking the question, “Who am I?” when the real issue was not who he was, but whose he was. When God began to speak to Moses he revealed Himself in terms of His relationship to Moses. He said, “I am the God of your father…” which meant I am YOUR God. You belong to me. My identity needs to be wrapped up in my relationship to God as his child. Moses went wrong by defining himself in terms of his function/personality/position instead of his relationship to God. There will always be reasons to be insecure if we define ourselves in terms of function/personality/position, but never any reason when defined in terms of our relationship to God as his children. Our sense of identity, of who we are, has to be firmly grounded in whose we are.
The second issue that hindered Moses was his perception of ministry as being something God was calling him to go and do rather than as allowing God to do His work through him. Moses retort, “Who am I to go and deliver the Israelites?” was based on the faulty assumption that he was the deliverer. God said, “I have come down to rescue them…” If Moses was the deliverer than position & natural ability might have been critical. But God was going to rescue them, and he chose Moses to be his instrument. Moses reluctance to obey was due to the fact that he was more concerned with who he was, or wasn’t, rather than who God was! The locus of Moses faith was in himself, not God! There is a world of difference between viewing ministry as something we are doing for God as opposed to something God is doing through us! In the former case the effectiveness or success relies upon us and in the latter it relies upon God. I, personally, am much more comfortable with it relying upon God. The ministry should be about who God is rather than who we are!
In short, we need to move from focusing on thoughts of “who I am” to “whose I am” and “who He is.” Our understanding of the first will be faulty & problematic unless built upon the foundation of the others.
Dear Lord,
Help me to always ground my identity (who I am) in my relationship to You as Your Son (whose I am). Help me understand how great a love has been bestowed upon me that I should be called a child of God! Help me to always be more concerned & consumed with knowing who you are than who I am. May my God-consciousness be far greater than my self-consciousness.
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