LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Friday 9th May 2025
THE DANGER OF SELF-DOUBT
Scripture Reading: Exodus 4
Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Exodus 4:10
Moses had doubts about himself and his mission. Even after the Lord had shown him two great signs, Moses was hesitant.
Today’s passage is the fourth complaint from Moses after the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush. First, he complained that he was not worthy to stand before Pharaoh. Then, he wondered how he would introduce God to Israel. With each of those questions, the Lord patiently gave answers to Moses. Not satisfied, Moses pushed further against his mission. He asked for a way to convince Israel that the Lord had sent him. In response to that, God gave Moses two signs to confirm his mandate before the people. With all of that assurance, Moses still disqualified himself with the flimsy excuse of a speech impediment.
Moses described himself as ‘not eloquent’. The reason he gave for his lack of eloquence was that he was ‘slow of speech and slow of tongue’. Moses further added that he was that way before he encountered God and that nothing had changed since his spiritual meeting. Moses told God, ‘I was this way before I met you, and I’m still the same after meeting you. ’ That sounds like Moses devaluing his meeting with God. He was directly telling God that His presence and power had little or no effect on him.
The attitude Moses showed to God should have disqualified him. Yet, the Lord persisted and eventually got him to go on the mission. That reveals the love and compassion of our God. He does not stop pursuing us to do His will, even when we do everything to throw Him off our backs.
The Lord understood Moses. He knew the damage that his past failures had done to his self-esteem. Underneath Moses’ brokenness, God saw a man He could use.
What is your excuse? Do you also come up with all the reasons why you cannot take up a major assignment? Many of us know what the Lord wants us to do, but we keep pushing back against God’s will with all sorts of excuses. Sometimes, we blame our parents for all our problems. Other times, we blame a boss or a spouse. Then we complain about our lack of money or the right experience. Did you think God did not know about all of those before He chose you for the job?
Like Moses, we may also feel unworthy or inadequate to do what the Lord wants us to do. But, no matter how low we think about ourselves, God thinks highly of us.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, you have qualified me to do great things for you. Help me not to disqualify myself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
