Categories: Message SeriesMoses, the Imposter

Untie that Tongue || Moses, the Impostor || Part 4

We’re in the last series of 2024. We’re preparing to change into a new year full of hope, fear, and opportunity. Was 2024 the year that you needed? Will 2025 be the year you want? To become who God created us to be requires change. Changing who we interact with, what we engage with, and how we think. Because change is uncomfortable, we often make excuses.

This series is about a key Israelite who made excuses to God, asking God to give his command to someone else. Yet, God met all these excuses with a love that surpasses understanding, confidence that never wavers, and encouragement that never fades. Our new series is called “Moses, the Imposter.” We’re diving into Exodus 3:11-4:17 to discuss the excuses that Moses feels he cannot do what God has assigned. My goal for this series is for you to know that whatever excuse you give to God, God meets it with a compassion that knows no bounds and an encouragement that never ceases.

In Part 3, we discussed Moses’ excuse: “What if they don’t believe me?” If they don’t, allow the signs and works of God to speak for you. Trust in who God is and how he communicates. We’ve learned that God is within us and can speak through us confidently.

In Part 4, we’re talking about how easily Moses gets tongue-tied. Join me in Exodus 4:10-12.

Exodus 4:10-12

NASB	NLT	VOICE
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”	10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”	*10 MOSES:* Please, Lord, I am not a talented speaker. I have never been good with words. I wasn’t when I was younger and I haven’t gotten any better since You revealed Yourself to me. I stutter and stammer. My words get all twisted.
11 But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?	11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?	*11 ETERNAL ONE:* Who is it that gives a person a mouth? Who determines whether one person speaks another doesn’t? Why is it that one person hears and another doesn’t? And why can one person see and other doesn’t? Isn’t it because of Me, the Eternal? You know it is.
12 Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.	12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.	12 God now, and I will be there to give you.

Moses was getting desperate at this point. Moses pleaded with God to let him out of his mission. After all, he was not a good speaker and would probably embarrass himself and God. Moses might have social anxiety or general anxiety, at least when he had to go out in public to people he didn’t know. You can tell the anxiety, fear, and panic is there in his tone. However, God looked at Moses’s problem from a different perspective. Moses needed some help, and who could better help him than God? God can help him say and do whatever is needed in his conversation with the Pharaoh and through attempting to get the Israelites out of Egypt. God made his mouth and would tell him what to say.

It’s easy for us to focus on our weaknesses, but if God asks us to do something, he will help us get the job done. If the job involves something we’re weak in, we can trust that he can provide the words, strength, courage, and ability where needed. We often will back down from a task or an opportunity because we don’t feel qualified, fearful, or uncomfortable. Opportunities will cross our paths many times throughout our lives. Our role is to submit them to God. If God has planned it for us, we’re taught to obey. It might be scary, but God has prepared us enough to start the journey, and he will be right alongside us to keep us on the path, guide us, and encourage us when we start to falter.

In Part 5, we close this series with Moses’ last plea: “Send anyone else.” Until then, stay blessed!

Associated Scripture