Confidence Pt. 1

EXODUS 4:10-16

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord , "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled."11 Then the Lord asked Moses, "Who makes a person's mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord ?12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say."13 But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send anyone else."14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses. "All right," he said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.

Our self-esteem and self-confidence are not derived from what come from within ourselves, but from God.

Take a look at Moses in this passage.  God speaks to Moses to free His people, the Israelites, from Pharaoh's control.  But Moses isn't so eager to take on the task.  The first thing out of Moses' mouth was "I'm not very good with words... I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled."  He immediately began looking at his own imperfections and insecurities.  But I love how God responds to Moses' plea, "Who makes a person's mouth?  Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see?"   God is pointing out the fact that He created Moses' mouth and despite Moses' claims, He knows what Moses is capable of.

Now let's apply this to our lives.  I remember being a teenager and remember my fears and insecurities.  I remember truly wanting to tell my friends about Jesus but I wasn't sure how to even start the conversation.  And then I was afraid that once I even got the conversation going that I'd be asked a question that I didn't know the answer to, and would completely ruin this person forever.  But we can have confidence in God.  We may not have all the answers or even some of them, but we have THE ANSWER and that's in JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR!  God understands our abilities better than we do since He's the very One that created us.

Our self-esteem and self-confidence are not derived from what comes from within ourselves, but from God!  Even Paul shook with fear when he spoke for God, but he didn't let it stop him.  All of us can take pride in what we do when Christ is living in us (Galations 2:20) and working through us (Galations 5:22-24).  Healthy self-esteem, then, doesn't come from thinking highly of ourselves - it comes from thinking rightly of God.

Challenge:  During your quiet time with God, ask Him to put in your heart someone that He wants you to share Christ with or simply invite to church.  This is a simple challenge.  I'm not asking you to go out a beat people upside the head with a Bible, just simply pray and ask God to show you the person.

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