Leadership Lessons From Moses' JourneySample

Purpose

When God made his purpose for Moses clear, he was in the desert on a mountain top speaking to a bush that was on fire but did not burn up. Moses’ purpose was to go back to Egypt—the empire where he had been raised—to bring a message to the new pharaoh. 

God called Moses out by name, and Moses answered, “Here I am.” God informed Moses of who God was and the work he was doing. God was concerned about Moses’ people, the enslaved Hebrews. God would fulfill his purpose and promise to them, and he would put an end to their suffering.

Moses would be God’s agent for accomplishing this work, but Moses was unsure about himself and this call. He had questions. He asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). Then God reminded Moses of a few key truths regarding his purpose: “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). Because I am sending you, I will finish the work.

In spite of these truths, Moses still had doubts and questioned himself and 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). 

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (Exodus 4:1). 

“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).

“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13).

But for every question, every doubt, and every obstacle, God had an answer. For every person who didn’t believe, God showed himself as true. Moses would not fulfill his purpose in his own strength. The God of his ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—would be with him. The God who simply referred to himself as “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Some scholars translate this as “I will be what I will be.” I can hear a black preacher in the back of my mind right now reminding the congregation that “God is! He is everything you need him to be!”

From A Sojourner’s Truth by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson