One of our newest interns at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Abigail Bowen, wrote a devotion entitled, “I Am Not Afraid” that we would like to share with you.
I Am (not) Afraid
Every day we come face to face with our fears. Fears of failure, of not being enough, of rejection, loss, hurt, and many others. When our fears make their appearance, we pull our guard up and use cleaver phrases to disguise the real reason we won’t do something. “I’m not qualified,” we say. “Someone else would be better at that.” Or even, “Someone else is already doing that, and I wouldn’t be as good.” Translated, these excuses say one thing: “I am afraid.”
In the Bible, there are so many examples of courageous men and women who hardly seemed fazed by these types of fears. God, however, was intentional in making sure that there was a backstory for each of those people. He revealed character flaws in everyone so that when we read the Bible, we can see the way He works through people, despite their fears and flaws.
Moses is a man God worked through in incredible ways. But the grand moment when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and called him to free the Israelite’s, he made excuses about his qualifications for the task.
In Exodus 3:11, right after God finished telling Moses His desire for him to rescue His people from slavery, Moses responded, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” To which God explained, “I will certainly be with you” (3:12). That wasn’t enough for Moses. He kept asking for signs and proof that God was who He said He was. He said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you” (4:1). So, God gave him more signs and more miracles. Even after he exhausted all of his questions, and God thoroughly proved Himself, Moses had one more excuse: “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” (4:10).
Whenever I read this story, I always think to myself, “Moses, C’mon! God is literally talking to you through a burning bush what more do you need?” But then, I remember how many times I am scared to do what I know God is calling me to do. I turn to him with all my excuses and questions, trying to convince Him that He has the wrong person for the job.
That’s what fear does in our lives—it keeps us from listening to the burning-bush moments from God. It tells us that we need more evidence that this is what we’re supposed to do, where we’re supposed to go. Or, fear comes in and simply tells us that we aren’t qualified.
We all know how the story ended: Moses went to Egypt and rescued the people, but he could only do that because he trusted God. God doesn’t rely on what we can do; He focuses on what he can do through us. So, when God calls you to something, and life throws the doubts into your mind, remember what He promised Moses.
“I will certainly be with you” Exodus 3:12 (NKJV).
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