Living Firm in Your Faith

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday: Exodus 4:10-17

Tuesday: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Thursday: Isaiah 41:13

Friday: Matthew 9:35-38

Saturday: Isaiah 7:1-12

Sunday: Isaiah 7:13-25

Opening Prayer

 Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.

I set my mind on you.

I fix my eyes on you.

I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

This is a devotional from the Seedbed Daily Text titled, Now Go; I Will Help You: The Utter Sufficiency of God by J.D. Walt on September 16th, 2024.

Meanwhile back at the unburning bush, as the details unfold, Moses begins to see more reasons for why this might not be a good idea.

Moses said to the Lord, “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.”

What gave Moses the idea that God needed a silver-tongued preacher? Why is it that we tend to make the calling of God about our own qualifications or lack thereof? Do we think God is somehow not aware of our foibles, weaknesses, and incompetencies? What if God calls us into a particular assignment precisely because of our foibles, weaknesses, and incompetencies?

What if God is looking for people who have been broken enough by life and mended enough by mercy that they know they are hopeless without God; that they can do nothing apart from Jesus? Isn’t this the whole point of 2 Corinthians 4:7? “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

Does Moses really think the secret sauce of his success in delivering the Israelites from the most powerful person on the planet is his eloquence of speech? Seems like Paul had something to say about eloquence now that I think about it:

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Cor. 2:1–5)

God does not need our talent, skills, or abilities to accomplish his will in the world. He can use them, but he doesn’t need them. The only thing God needs from us is our availability, faithfulness, and teachability. God is good even in the face of our worst moments. Look how he responds to Moses:

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

Indulge my translation in the form of an overused cliché: “God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.” I want us to feel this word from the Lord today. It is full of tender compassion and intimate care:

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

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear that today on quite a lot of fronts in my life. Can we focus on just this part? Now go; I will help you. 

To hear, “I will be with you,” is good, but God is even better than that. He says, “I will help you.” Flash-forward centuries later and hear what God is saying to his people through the prophet Isaiah: “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isa. 41:13).

Christian, you have a God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.” Look at your right hand—right now—and fathom this truth. Speak it aloud so your ears can hear it: “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isa. 41:13).

Still, after all God’s patient coaxing, Moses (in what feels like his best British accent) says it’s a hard pass:

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

But, don’t we see ourselves in good ol’ Moe? When it comes to the weighty matter of God’s calling on our lives (and he calls us all), our insufficiency is a given. Now hear this: God’s calling is about God’s sufficiency, not our insufficiency. Okay, once again, and this time with feeling: God’s calling is about God’s sufficiency, not our insufficiency. Maybe the most important two words in the whole exchange today are these two: “Now go.” It is as though God is saying, “Just take the first step.” That’s always the hardest one, isn’t it? 

Feel God’s hand take yours. And get up. No, you don’t know where you are going. No, you don’t know how to get there. No, you don’t know what you will do when you get there. No, you don’t really have a plan. You’ve got God. Even better—God’s got you. You hear him say:

Now go; I will help you.

JOURNAL PROMPTS

Do you have a real, felt, and regular experience of God with you, holding your right hand, and helping you? It’s okay if you don’t. What’s important is to become honest about where you actually are and to move toward God from there. Let your hunger for God become honest before him. Now on another front, how will you begin to make the transition in relating to God not according to your insufficiency but according to his sufficiency?