The Upper Room Daily Devotion – Friday, 24 January 2014 - “In Spite of Our Limitations” Read Exodus 3

The Upper Room Daily Devotion – Friday, 24 January 2014 - “In Spite of Our Limitations” Read Exodus 3: Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

Moses said, “I have never been eloquent, . . . . I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “ . . . go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”--Exodus 4:10-12 (NIV)

Moses may have been a great man, but early on he was more concerned with making excuses than with trusting God. The power in the burning bush story is God’s response in dismantling those excuses by telling Moses to trust and by promising to do through Moses what seemed impossible. How often do we use our limitations as excuses? We say we do not have time, skill, experience, and so on. A stroke left me with a speech impediment, but when I am tempted to use this as an excuse, I remember Moses. Moses also had a speech problem, but God called him anyway. I believe that God can use us as we are — hesitations and limitations included. What we can learn from Moses is that the setting of limits belongs to God, not to us. God’s unlimited power can transform our limitations into instruments of faith and works. (The Author-William L. Dike (Florida, USA))

Thought for the Day: In spite of our limitations, God can give our lives purpose.

Prayer: Remove our excuses, O Lord, so that we yield all that we are to your purposes. May even our limitations be of use and service to you. Amen.

Prayer focus: Those recovering after a stroke

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