Runners take your mark, come set, BANG. It’s the sound I repeatedly heard through my middle school, high school, and college years before I would take off into a sprint and jump over the hurdles between my starting block and the finish line. 

In more recent years, it’s my son’s first few steps of elopement that send me into sprint mode. Elopement is defined by the National Autism Association as, “the tendency for an individual to try to leave the safety of a responsible person’s care or a safe area, which can result in potential harm or injury.” We can be playing in the yard and without warning or reasoning he will take off without the slightest regard to his personal safety. As you can imagine, nothing jump-starts a caregiver’s movement quicker! 

While I’m not as fast as in my younger years, I think a bit of my quickness has stuck with me even as a middle-aged woman. I often joke about how training to sprint and jump over obstacles is just another way God has prepared me to be Silas’s mother. And while this may be a funny sentiment, I am seriously thankful that I am healthy and fast enough to keep my son safe.  

Despite this (and the countless other ways God has prepared me) there are many days that I feel so inadequate to fulfill the calling to be his mom. And while your situation or circumstances may be different, I know I am not alone in feeling inadequate to do what God clearly wants me to do. I have talked to numerous friends, family members, and church members who have expressed the sentiment of feeling inadequate—even when we know and see how God has perfectly prepared us for the task he has called us to do.

God has perfectly prepared us for the task he has called us to do. Marcy Martin @inthequiver #Faith #Parenthood

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In the story of Moses, God gives us a biblical example of a man who felt inadequate, yet was perfectly prepared for a difficult task God called him to do. Through the burning bush, God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. 

Let’s look at a few ways God prepared Moses to fulfill this calling: 

1. His parents were faithful Hebrews. We never underestimate the impact faithful parents make on a child as they teach God’s Word and continually pray (see Hebrews 11:23 below).

2. His life was spared as a newborn: At the time Moses was born the Pharaoh gave the order that all newborn Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile. But Moses was hidden for 3 months. 

“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

Hebrews 11:23 NIV

3. Pharaoh’s daughter’s compassion provided Moses protection from the death edict. When Moses’ mother could no longer hide him, she placed him in a basket in the Nile River. Again, Moses’ life was spared when Pharaoh’s daughter found him and felt compassion for him. 

“She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.”

Exodus 2:6 NIV

4. Moses was allowed to be raised by his own Hebrew family until he was weaned. Moses’ sister Miriam was watching nearby and offered to find a Hebrew nurse for the woman. Scholars believe Hebrew babies were nursed between 2-5 years which allowed Moses time to learn about God from his Hebrew family. 

“Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.”

Exodus 2:9 NIV

5. Pharaoh’s daughter raised Moses as her son. This allowed Moses to become educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians. 

“When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.”

Acts 7:21 NIV

6. God gave Moses leadership abilities. He is described as being “powerful in speech and action.”

“Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.”

Acts 7:22 NIV

God allowed Moses to have his life spared and arranged for a Hebrew boy, born into slavery, the opportunity to learn the culture, ways, and speech of Egyptian royalty. As we read Scripture, we know this preparation was God-ordained for Moses to be able to speak in Pharaoh’s court as a mouthpiece for God. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery and to the land God had promised for them. 

Could there be anyone more qualified? Yet standing in front of the burning bush, Moses gave God reason after reason why he was not the man for the job. Why? I believe it was because Moses had grown comfortable tending sheep, and he lacked confidence in God’s ability to use him. He was focusing too much on his human abilities and not enough on how God had prepared him to carry out this plan. 

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Let’s not give Moses a hard time because aren’t we the same way? 

We come up with excuses about how we are inadequate and why someone else would be better suited to serve, teach, pray, or share. Instead we should be walking with faith and confidence knowing God has perfectly prepared us to carry out His plan for our lives. 

The world teaches us to build our self-confidence and believe in ourselves. In contrast, the Bible teaches us to believe in God’s power and His ability to use us. His Word teaches us to build our God-confidence (not self-confidence) so that we will be ready to carry out His plans. 

When God puts us in the situation to serve or lead, let’s try to focus on the many ways He has perfectly prepared us rather than our litany of reasons as to why we aren’t good enough or the right person for the job. With our focus on Him, we can walk obediently through life knowing that God is working through us. 

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6 NIV

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His Word teaches us to build our God-confidence (not self-confidence) so that we will be ready to carry out His plans. Marcy Martin @inthequiver #Scripture #Parenthood

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