Exodus 4:11-12 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

We so often forget that everything we have is a gift from God, all the way down to our natural faculties that we so take for granted. That’s why it can be a real blessing to have those faculties impaired at times: it gives us far more appreciation for them! Probably my experience of being blind for a couple of days back in 1969 made me a much more observant person. A necessary corollary to that is that we are accountable to God for how we use the tools He gives us, which extends to letting Him use them through us. It is amazing to me how many people feel they have nothing to offer God, and could never be used by Him. I am reminded of a story a friend of mine told me of visiting a village in Central America to share the Gospel, and encountering a lot of resistance. Suddenly, moved by the Holy Spirit, my friend pointed to a young girl standing by and said, “Speak!” She responded with a torrent of beautiful praise to God, at which point everything in that village changed. She was 12 years old, and had been mute from birth. God had saved her voice for that moment, for His glory, and it resulted in the salvation of many. God is just as able to use our voices, if we will yield them to Him. This is what God was telling Moses, and it is what He is saying to us, if we will listen.

I get teary remembering this story, but yet I don’t always keep myself available to God. I need to remember gratefully that every ability I have, no matter how mundane, is a gift from Him, and allow Him to use whatever He likes however He likes. As a pastor, I earnestly desire that each of the believers have the same attitude, and work to overcome the various obstacles to that. In this culture, children are more likely to be told when they are inept than when they do something well, and that tends to create a “I can’t do it” mindset. I have talked myself blue in the face trying to help people understand that if they will offer themselves to God, He can do anything at all through them. If the need arose, God could even enable me to run! A major problem for me is that the more I allow God to do through me, the less the believers feel motivated to offer themselves to do things. I don’t have the wisdom to resolve that, but again, God can do it, so I need to trust Him and be obedient.

Father, thank You for Your faithfulness, despite my ignorance and stubbornness. Help me indeed stay available to You in every way, and to teach and encourage the believers to do likewise, so that You may be free to do all that You desire in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!