I love the Bible. The stories are about ordinary people, who had regular lives and struggles as we do. God uses regular people and not the “self-righteous”. He uses those who are available and willing. God also looks at the person’s heart. He doesn’t look at their struggles or their past. The Bible showcases people who encountered God. Their assignments or callings were overwhelming. Some attempted to resist God. The will of their flesh was fighting the will of their spirit.
The flesh always fights against the spirit and the two are in enmity. In most cases, the flesh will overcome the spirit. The flesh goes against what God says because it is fallen. Remember Adam’s rebellion in the garden of Eden, in the book of Genesis. Most of us are being led by the flesh, instead of the spirit.
A good example of a fella who was overwhelmed by his calling was Moses. Let’s take a look at Moses. I love Moses, but I felt for the guy. His calling was gigantic – let me also say that the Israelites were not an easy bunch to lead. So here is the scene: God’s people, the Israelites have been in slavery now for more than 400 years. God remembers the covenant He made with Abraham – to bring the Israelites out of slavery to Canaan, the promised land. It is time for God to fulfill that promise, and Moses is the man for the job. He was born and sent to the earth for this.
God encounters Moses and reveals his calling to him. He immediately starts giving God reasons why he is not the man for the job. He has valid reasons for resisting. God has told him to go to the highest authority in that land and tell him to free his slaves – who happened to be God’s People. Let’s think about that for a minute. This is enough to scare anyone. Moses’s flesh goes to full-fledged war with his spirit. He listens to the will of his flesh as we all do and tries to resist what God has revealed to him.
He had good reason to fear. Pharaoh could have ordered his execution as soon as Moses stepped foot in his palace. But fear always comes from our flesh and not our spirit. So God says to Moses in Exodus 3: 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Now go I am sending you to the Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
I can imagine the look on Moses’s face. He convinced himself that God got the wrong person. Here is the thing about our calling, it rarely matches who we think we are. What God sees in us is so much more than we see in ourselves. It was the same with Moses, he was content tending to livestock – that was his identity. So Moses says, “excuse me God, but you got the wrong man.”
Let’s read Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” This is what Moses signed up for when he was with God, in the beginning. God knew him before he was sent to the earth, before God formed him in his mother’s womb. How do I know this? Let’s refer to the book of Jeremiah.
God in the book of Jeremiah speaks to the prophet. He tells him that before he was in his mother’s womb God knew him, that he set him apart and gave him an assignment. This is true for all. God knew us before we were born, we were with God before we were born. He gave us our assignment and we agreed to it. He assigned us a body and sent us to the earth for that assignment.
We come onto the earth as babies and the memory of us being with God in the beginning evaporates. Resistance comes to the fore. The flesh will always be against the will of God at all times. So God is reminding Moses of the assignment he agreed to when he was with God. Moses is unaware that God in his wisdom gave him all he needs to get this job done. Moses undermines himself due to the conditioning of his experiences on the earth. The resistance continues. Let’s read on.
Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, “O 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.” Moses says, God, I cannot even speak well. How am I going to speak in front of the highest authority in the land? How will I ask him to free slaves that have been in Egypt for over 400 years? How am I going to manage both my nerves and stutter at the same time? Moses was fearful and insecure about his purpose and rightfully so. It was a daunting task. God answers him in Exodus 4: 12-13 Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it”
God assures him that HE will be with him. HE will tell him what to say, but Moses is still unsure, insecure, and scared. God even says alright, I will send your brother Aaron with you, to help you speak in front of Pharaoh. It was hard for Moses to say yes. Walking in our calling will be uncomfortable at first. We live in a body – the spirit is willing, but the body is weak, remember? Living out calling requires subjecting the body to the will of the spirit. It’s only possible where we cultivate an intimate relationship with God, thus the Holy Spirit empowers us. Imagine if Moses had persisted and refused. What would have become of Israel? It’s important to note that our assignment is connected to others – there is a bigger picture. Now our calling may not be as grand as Moses’s, however it is still important to God. Our assignment could be being the peacemaker in our family or being a teacher, or breaking a generational curse. Our calling needs to come as a revelation from God and that happens through intimacy and relationship with Him.
Failing to find our calling will leave us with a void which we fill by running after the things of the world – which can leave us broken. The enemy does not want us to discover our calling and therefore will always attach fear to what we are called to do. God desires for us to overcome the limitations of our flesh because we are spirit first. We are to subject our flesh to the will of the spirit (the truest version of who we are) and to God.
Stay blessed X!
