Losing My Promised Land

Ya know, I was interacting with my Bible earlier tonight as part of my normal routine and on the agenda was to read Exodus 3-4.  In my head (sorry God), I was thinking: greatttt I get to read the story of Moses again...yayyy.  I thought that I knew the story from head to toe, but once again the Lord opened my eyes to a small but rather important detail that I've always skimmed over.

Chapter 3 is when Moses is "called" to saved the Israelites from Pharaoh's captivity and as God was knighting my man Mo, he kept brining up excuses and excuses on why God must've picked the wrong person.  The largest excuse was that he couldn't lead because he had some sort of speech impediment ("slow in tongue").  Some biblical scholars suggest he had a stuttering problem.  But that's besides the point.

Here is Mo' telling God all the reasons that he, being God, selected the wrong person to lead Israel out of captivity.  Let me say this again with added embellishes.  Here is Mo' tellin GOD all the reasons he being the [all-knowing] GOD, selected the wrong person to lead Israel out of captivity.

Pause.

This sounds wayyyy to familiar to me...

UnPause.

Moses' fear of leadership stopped him from receiving one of the biggest blessings.  He let his fear of public speaking (which happens to be the greatest fear in American adults) stop him from doing his task.  Not only that, God essentially told him that everything was going to be alright; God promised to have his back!  WHAT!?  And Moses was still afraid.

Eventually God gave up.  He was tired of Moses' bickering and doubt so he told him that Aaron, Moses' brother, would be the speaker with Moses being the mouthpiece for God.  So, God spoke, Moses spoke to Aaron, and then Aaron spoke to the people.  All that nonsense all because Moses was afraid to speak in front of people.

That tidbit of information really got me thinking about how many great opportunities have passed my grips because I was afraid.  Or that I didn't trust that my God is greater that my minor disabilities of sorts.

Yes, Israel was saved and historically more people remember Moses than Aaron.  It did indeed work out.  But, how much different, maybe even better, would it have been if Moses didn't let his fear consume him.  Maybe he would've lived to see the Promised Land instead of dying right before it happened.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to let my fears, doubts, and lack of trust prevent me from seeing the promised land.

If I am to be honest, I'm still going to have fears.  And at times my fears will seemingly drive me away and I may lose a bit of my Promised Land.  But, I'm glad God revealed to me this tidbit of information because it has vastly changed the narrative for me.

Thanks for reading you guys/gals!  I hope this encourages you not to let all your fears conquer you and that you don't lose a slice of your Promised Land!

--MJA