Depend on a God who is Greater than your Fears, Insecurities, and Excuses Exodus 3-4 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10 NIV But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 NIV Moses (and our) Excuses Excuse #1: ‘who am I’ Exodus 3:11 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:12 NIV God’s Response: “I will be with you” Exodus 3:12 Excuse #2: ‘I don’t have the knowledge’ Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Exodus 3:13 NIV God said to Moses, “I am who I am.This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. Exodus 3:14-15 NIV God’s Response: ‘I am the eternal God’ Exodus 3:14-22 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Exodus 4:1 NIV Excuse #3: ‘They won’t believe me’ Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.” Exodus 4:1-9 NIV God’s Response: ‘Let me show you what I can do’ Ex. 4:2-9 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Exodus 4:10 NIV Excuse #4:‘I’m not a good speaker’ Exodus 4:10 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:11-12 NIV God’s Response: ‘I’ll give you the words’ 4:11-12 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:13 NIV Excuse #5: ‘I don’t want to do this’ Exodus 4:13 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” Exodus 4:14-17 NIV God’s Response: ‘I have an assistant for you’ Exodus 4:14-17 Questions for Small Group/Personal Study Opener: Identify an excuse, insecurity or fear that is holding you back. Go to the Source: Read the 5 excuses that Moses gives and God’s responses to each: Exodus 3:10-12 Exodus 3:13-15 Exodus 4:1-9 Exodus 4:10-12 Exodus 4:13-17 1.Can you relate to any of Moses’ fears and insecurities? How so? 2.Can one of God’s responses to Moses be applicable to you today? 3.Do you believe that God will come through for you as He did for Moses? Why or why not? Live it Out: Rick said that God’s characteristics of being Sufficient, Ever-present and Able come through in these 2 chapters of Exodus. What name or characteristic of God is for you to claim today? I AM _____________.