01/11/2022 – I can’t speak
In a very recent job interview with a popular tech giant company, I remember my heart pounding with excitement as the interview unfolded. I remember me pouncing, like a hungry lion, at every question the hiring manager would pose to me. I remember my enthusiasm causing my words to crowd my mouth and speech, making my responses disjointed, awkward and unpolished. The hiring manager was gracious, but I got the sense he was struggling to follow my responses. I said to myself, “if you blow this interview, you have no one to blame but your own inability to speak!”. I did pull through the interview and gain control of my responses; the interview overall went well, and I finished it with a positive sense. But for a moment, I just couldn’t speak. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Where you have so much to say or to respond, that your thoughts and words hit a traffic jam as they exit your mouth. But imagine this, when God elected Moses to be His spokesperson before Pharaoh and the Israelites, even Moses didn’t see himself as being able to fill the role of speaking for God.
Exodus 4:10-11
10 But Moses said, “No, Lord, don’t send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I haven’t become one since you began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the Lord. 12 Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what to say.”
I think Moses thought God would have miraculously change his “slow and hesitant” style of speaking. You see just moments before, Moses was witness to the burning bush, the staff that turn into a snake then back into a staff, his hand plagued with leprosy then restored back to normal. So, it would be normal to think God would also give Moses a booming and commanding speaking voice. But no, God left his speaking voice unchanged, Moses would still be a “slow and hesitant” speaker. But why is that? In the case of Moses, the simple part was just to “obey and speak “regardless of his speech impediments. God would take responsibility of the hard part, all Moses needed to do was the simple part. As we relate this to ourselves, you may not be blessed as an eloquent speaker, you may not have a booming and commanding voice, but I encourage you to speak. Speak the message God has placed in you, sing the song of praise He has given you to sing. Let us do the simple part of “obey and speak” and let God do the hard part.
Today meditate on this verse: Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”