Devotion - Monday, April 7

The call of Moses has many interesting turns and twists.  In Exodus 4 he makes his excuses to God, siting his being "slow of speech and of tongue."  God promises to send Aaron with Moses; "He will speak for you to the people."

You are familiar enough with the story of the Exodus to know that Moses (and Aaron) do accomplish their task.  The people of Israel are set go by Pharaoh.  All this is accomplished by one who lacks the trait we first identify with a great leader - the ability to speak eloquently.

God saw in Moses the traits that he needed.  God saw in Moses the abilities which would be most needed to the mission.  He did not see what we might have seen or desired.

"Doing the heroic thing" is very different from "being a hero."  The latter means meeting some agreed upon, uniform standards and never failing to disappoint.  The former is possible when, in a particular given situation, we do the right thing.  Few (if any) will meet everyone's expectations for a hero;  many can do the right thing in the right situation.

God does not call Moses to be something he is not.  God calls Moses to a particular task.  God sees in Moses the ability to do that task.

God calls us, too.  We may not think ourselves equal to the task.  Such worries generally arise out of a confusion between being thinking about heroes rather than seeing the need for a heroic deed.