25 to Life - Moses: God's stuttering, stammering, blessing to the Hebrews.

Twenty-five to life is usually a phrase that we use when referring to criminals who have been judged and sentenced that very amount of time to prison.  In this instance, we are using twenty-five examples of Biblical men to compare and contrast against our lives to, in order to see that we become the great men of God that not only He wants us to be, but the one our families need us to be as well.  Over the next several days we will review each person individually, their story, and then discuss how their lives compare to ours (except for maybe Noah, but hey, maybe you have passed out naked on a beach once or twice in your lives and.........okay I'll include Noah.)

So let's get to it!   Ladies and gentleman, let's meet Moses, the God chosen stuttering confidence lacking, liberator of God's people, the Hebrews.

At  33 years of age, I have a 16 year old and a 16 month old, and I know that I am supposed to be the provider and the spiritual leader of my family, but sometimes I wonder what God was thinking when He decided to give me that position.  I don't always feel like, or sometimes a situation will occur that makes me question whether or not I'm good enough for the job.

When our 16 month old was a few months younger he had serious g.i. issues, which caused him to become extremely constipated, and I would have to administer a laxative to get his "juices flowing" so to speak.  One particular night, I gave him the medicine, waited for him to "handle his business", and then later as I'd done soooooo many times before, hopped in the shower holding him to give him a bath before bedtime.  This particular night the moon must have been in a weird cycle, or maybe the stars weren't aligned right, but whatever it was, it certainly turned out crappy for me, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word.  My son CRAPPED. ON. ME. IN. THE. SHOWER!  Now for you dads who haven't had the invigorating experience of your sweet, precious, cute, little baby just crapping all over you, your NOT missing anything.  IT WAS DISGUSTING!

Even as a baby, growing into toddler, there were times, and will almost certainly will be more, where I will be pooped on, peed on, threw up on......why do we do this again?  Sorry I digress, even through all of that we do not choose to stop holding or loving our children because, they are the most important to us. Whenever I think of the unconditional love I have for my kids, I'm reminded that God made me for this purpose and He knows me better than I do, and that He loves us as His children as well, and even though we might poop on Him, spit up on Him, question His decisions, or even turn our backs to Him, He never stops loving us unconditionally.

Take Moses for example.  He was appointed by God to liberate the Hebrews from their 400+ year long slavery to the Egyptians, and then to be their guide, governor, and spiritual leader.  Now that is a serious undertaking, especially considering Moses had trouble speaking because of his stuttering and stammering.  That's right, Moses couldn't speak properly, and felt that God had made a mistake in choosing him for the job.

Exodus 4:10-17The Message (MSG)  Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”

When he expressed that to God, he was reassured that what he felt was a deal breaker, was no big deal to God and would be handled.  God reassured Moses, then provides someone to speak for him.  Problem solved right?  Time to move on?  WRONG!  Even after all that God had said and done, Moses still second guessed himself and questioned God for choosing him.

Exodus 5:22   New International Version (NIV)   Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?

So what can we take away from this?  You and I aren't expected to be perfect.  God calls the broken and unqualified to serve Him.  If we were perfect there would be no need for His grace and mercy, but we're not.

Romans 3:23New King James Version (NKJV)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

When you find yourself at the point in life where you are moving into that family leadership position, just remember that no one is perfect, everyone gets it wrong once in a while.  Just as long as you pray, and ask God for wisdom, He'll keep you pointed in the right direction.

Reflection questions 

1)  Is there anything about me that I feel disqualifies me from being a man of God?





2)  Have I asked God to give me knowledge, wisdom, and patience to become what He wants me to be?