Exodus 4:12 “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

It is very instructive that Moses, the great leader of the people, had to be trained to do the job. No one in history has ever arrived on the scene perfect, doing everything right. The New Testament records that even Jesus grew – naturally enough, since He was born an infant like everyone else. We discount ourselves when we look at our current state (unless we are wallowing in conceit, which is even more dangerous). God takes us where we are and as we are, and works with us, transforming us into what we need to be to accomplish what He has for us to do. In this case, Moses had a speech handicap, likely either stuttering or stammering. It was no big deal as long as he was dealing with sheep, but God was telling him to go deal with a king! Here, He assures Moses that He  “will be with Moses’ mouth,” not just telling him what to say but enabling him to say it clearly. That should have been enough, but Moses wasn’t yet trained enough in trusting God. We see things only as they are in the moment, heavily colored by how they have been, but God sees things also as they are going to be, and He knows what it will take to get us there. We are to trust Him enough to do as He says, even when we feel we are incapable to doing it. That means accepting His training, His discipline, even when that isn’t fun. Hebrews 12 has long been a favorite chapter of mine, with its discussion of discipline. Japanese doesn’t have an exact equivalent of the word, discipline, and in Japanese translations it generally says training. That doesn’t reduce the impact of this statement: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11) If we aren’t trained/disciplined, we won’t grow into what God created us to be, and that would be a tragedy.

I have tended to fall more on the conceit side of this issue, and that certainly hasn’t been good either. God has had to teach me that, though He can do anything at all through me, I can indeed do nothing right on my own, just as Jesus said. (John 15:5) As a pastor, my job is to train, and occasionally discipline, believers to do what God has for them to do. (Ephesians 4:11-13) I’m not to do it by commanding from above, but by coming alongside them, walking with them through the path God has for them. The various believers in this church come to mind as I write this, as well as the difficulties of my doing what I have just said, in each situation. That’s my training, because I am still incapable of doing anything right on my own. I’ve got to stay humbly dependent on God, accepting the people He brings alongside me, just as He provided Aaron for Moses, and know that the power and the glory all belong to Him.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me take it to heart and operate in it, allowing You to do in and through me everything that You desire, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!