Scripture: Exodus 3:1-4:17

For some reason, we think words alone are enough to convince deeply entrenched interests in surrendering their positions. If we are just persuasive enough, the other will agree with us.

Too often, unfortunately, true persuasion is not what wins the battle of ideas. It is the one who can create calm, ease the anxiety, and answer the unanswerable questions who prevails. We are predisposed by our own fears to resist challenges to the status quo, even when they are imposed upon us.

I have heard it said that a man convinced against his will remains unconvinced.

This is a challenge for those who seek to lead according to the new realities they perceive. It was a challenge for Moses, who heard the call of God to lead a people through tremendous change.  All Moses could see was his inadequacy. Over and over again, he questioned the call of God because of the gift of speech that he did not possess.

It was as if Moses thought God didn’t already know what Moses could and could not do.

God called Moses to an impossible task, one that required more than mere words.  God also promised Moses that words would not be the only means by which others would be persuaded. God would show up in miraculous ways, would change hearts, and would get the attention of others through signs and wonders.  God promised that He would do the heavy lifting, and all Moses had to do was speak.

And Moses could not bring himself to see that.

We focus so much on the size of the task and our inadequacy to complete it. Or, we overestimate our capacity to actually bring about change. The truth is that we need more than words. We need God to act.

The promise is that when God is leading the process, He will act in ways we cannot imagine. We are not shouting at the wind because God can make the wind blow any direction He chooses.

More than mere words, it is His Word we must trust to do the heavy lifting.