You’re Not Weak! By Lisa Burkhardt Worley
We all have insecurities but there are probably one or two that come out more often than others. Maybe you don’t think you’re good enough, pretty enough or smart enough. Whatever the case, the volume on our perceived shortcomings is turned up when we face a difficult situation.
For example, the biblical patriarch, Moses, stuttered, and did not feel he was a good talker. When God called Moses to go back to Egypt from and demand that Pharaoh set the Israelites free from slavery, this was one of the reasons why Moses did not think he was the man for the job. “’Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue’” (Exodus 4:10, NIV).
Moses eventually moved forward and did what he was told, but when the request backfired and Pharaoh increased the hard labor, the Israelites were upset and would not listen to Moses anymore. When God told Moses to give it another try with Pharaoh, the stuttering patriarch brought up the same insecurity. “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” (Exodus 6:12, NIV) As if God did not hear him the first time, he says it again in the same passage: “But Moses said to the LORD, ‘Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?’” (Exodus 6:30, NIV) LBW Translation: “See God, I told you I was a terrible speaker!”
We all know the end of the story. After Egypt experienced ten God-given plagues, Pharaoh did let the Israelites go, and it did not matter whether Moses had trouble spitting words out or not, the LORD still worked through him.
This can be a lesson for all of us. I think God receives the most glory when he takes our weaknesses and infuses His strength into us so we can carry out His plan. People are amazed. Wasn’t that the girl who was always so gawky? Isn’t that the one who wore coke-bottle thick glasses? Isn’t she the one who never said a word? Where we get into trouble is when we use our shortcomings as an excuse for why we cannot take a step of faith into a calling.
Today, will you hand over your perceived weakness to God? Will you ask Him to turn your fragility into an asset that defies human reasoning? Remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).