9 February

It is the song most frequently played at British funeral services. It is the most remade song in history. It was popularised by Frank Sinatra on his 1969 album, My Way.

‘I did it my way’ is the way of the world. It is not the way of Jesus. Jesus said, ‘Yet not as I will, but as you will’ (Matthew 26:39). He prays, ‘May your will be done’ (v.42). He made no excuses. Jesus did it God’s way. Moses, on the other hand, as we will see today, made five excuses before eventually agreeing to follow God’s way. 

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a pioneer of the hospice care movement, said, ‘People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.’

There is an amazing contrast between what took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and in the Garden of Eden. ‘Not your way, but mine’, was the essence of the response of Adam and Eve to God in the first garden. However, in the second garden, ‘Not my way, but yours’ was Jesus’ prayer to the Father. Doing it God’s way meant suffering and death. But, it brought the redemption of the whole world.

In yesterday’s passage, and in today’s, we see his five excuses (all of which I can identify with):

• ‘You have got the wrong person’
  Moses says, ‘Who am I?’ (3:11). He felt inadequate. We can all feel, ‘I am not good enough.’ ‘I am not holy enough.’ Moses said to God, you’ve got the wrong person. Why me?
  
  God’s reply is, ‘I will be with you’ (v.12a). That is all that matters.

• ‘I am not ready yet’
  Moses says, ‘What shall I tell them?’ (v.13). He felt ill-informed. He did not think he would be able to answer all the questions. He thought he would have nothing to say.
  
  God said, ‘This is what you are to say’ (v.14). God will give you the message at the right time.

• ‘I might fail’
  Moses says, ‘What happens if it all goes wrong?’ ‘It might not work out.’ ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, “The Lord did not appear to you"?' (4:1).
  
  In answer, God showed Moses his power (vv.2–9).

• ‘I do not have the skills’
  ‘Moses says, ‘I do not have the right gifts’: ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue’ (v.10). It seems that Moses may have had a stutter or some other form of speech impediment. (‘I speak with faltering lips’, 6:12).
  
  God said, ‘I will help you speak and will teach you what to say’ (4:12). God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

• ‘Someone else will do it’
  Moses says, ‘Please send someone else to do it’ (v.13). It is easy to think, ‘someone else will do it better than me’.
  
  God was not best pleased with Moses but said he would send Aaron to be with him: ‘I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do’ (v.15b).
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