Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Do You Trust God? | Torah | Exodus 4:1-17

Episode Date: May 12, 2022

How do you know you can trust someone? Where do you feel insecure or uncertain? What does it take for you to trust someone? Patrick looks at Moses's insecurity and lack of trust in Exodus 4:1-17 to share how to know you can trust God. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Exodus 4:1-17 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller, and right now we're going through the Book of Exodus. A few nights ago, I tucked my daughter in, and as I left the room, she started crying, which is honestly super unusual. But a friend at school had been mean to her that day, and her emotions were just running high. She was kind of unwinding there in bed. And so I went back in and I asked her, hey, why are you crying?

And through her tears, she just told me, I don't even know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know why I feel this way. And so I took her little face in my hands and I looked her right in the eyes and I said, I love you, Iris. You know I love you, right? And she started to cry even harder. And she said to me, how do I know you love me?

Now, these are moments that at least as a parent kind of break your heart in a fraction of a second you begin to question your entire parenting style. because, I mean, how can my daughter ever even wonder if I love her? Of course she has to know that I love her. And it seems crazy when I think about it. I want to say, you know I love you because I make your lunch and your dinner. I clothe you. I read stories to you every night. I teach you. I laugh with you. I encourage you. I tie your shoes. I button your dresses. I comb your hair. I keep you safe. I take you to fun places. I talk to you about your day. Don't you know that I love you? Isn't it obvious? And yet so often it's not obvious to us. The people, who love us the most. On this side of Adam and Eve's rebellion, the human heart is just shot through with insecurity and uncertainty. Where do you feel the most insecure right now? Where do you feel the most uncertain?

Where do you find yourself doubting if God really loves you, if he really likes you, if he's really with you? If you feel that way, know that you aren't alone. Moses is probably the greatest hero of the Old Testament, but when we meet him, he doesn't strike us at all like a hero. From his childhood, he's protected by other people. He's not the hero of the story. Eventually, he loses his temper. He murders someone and then he flees from it all. He flees from his family, his people, his problems. Moses is a man who, when we meet him, is deeply uncertain, deeply insecure, just like you and me. And when God appears to him in a

burning bush, doesn't just flip a switch on in his life where he becomes a different kind of person. He doesn't suddenly become someone who's confident because he knows that God is with him. quite the opposite. When God tells him to go and deliver the good news that he's going to rescue the enslaved Israelites, Moses says this to him. Then Moses answered, but behold, they won't believe me. They won't listen to my voice. For they will say, Yahweh did not appear to you. In response, God gives Moses three signs he can use to convince the Israelites. I really am sent by God. His staff can become a snake. He can make his hand so that it becomes infected with a skin disease. And when he pours out water from the Nile on the ground, it becomes blood. But despite these signs, Moses isn't convinced

that the people will be convinced. He's still uncertain. He's still insecure. Verse 10. But Moses said to the Lord, oh my Lord, I'm not eloquent either in the past or since you've spoken to your servant, but I'm slow speech and tongue. He's saying, look, God, I don't speak well. You can't send me to speak for you. And I think this isn't just an excuse. I think you can feel Moses's pain. Maybe he had some sort of speech impediment, like a stutter his whole life. Or maybe he just finds public speaking terrifying. We really aren't sure what it was, but it's not hard to imagine that whatever it was, it cost him embarrassment. In the past, it probably made him insecure. People probably laughed at him. And now he's thinking, I'm going to blow it again. I'm going to mess up God's big plan to rescue

his people. The people won't listen. God won't be able to convince them through me. And when he sees me flop, he'll just be out. That'll be the end of that. But listen to God's gracious response. Then Yahweh said to him, Who made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or death or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.

God is saying, don't you know who I am, Moses? I'm your creator. I've made you. I've known you. I've protected you since you were an infant. I prepared you for this moment. And I will not abandon you when you need me. I've always been there and I will always be there.

And yet, Moses has. broken free of this insecurity. This is what he says in verse 13. Oh my Lord, please send someone else. And then everything just shifts. God goes from graciously granting Moses's wishes, showing him patience, to finally getting frustrated. Verse 14, then the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses. And Yahweh goes on to explain that he'll send Moses his brother, Aaron, along with him, that Aaron can speak for Moses if Moses really refuses to do the job. And maybe God getting frustrated isn't what you expect. Maybe you think God isn't being patient enough. But here's what I think is happening. Moses' insecurity has finally pushed him over a precipice. He's basically refusing to do what God is

calling him to do. He's refusing to obey. And the reason this offends God isn't because he's a dictator who needs everybody to do exactly as he says. It's because he's a loving father who's hurt when his child doesn't trust him. Even though he deserves that child's trust, even though he's done everything he can to prove to that child, I will be with you. I love you. Please trust me. When I read this story, I can't help but see my life in two ways. The first way is as a parent. I know the pain and frustration that comes when my daughter or son don't see that I'm acting in their interest when they won't trust me enough to take a risk. I think back to last summer, I had Oliver at the pool and I was trying to coax him off the edge to jump into my hands and he was scared. He was insecure. He was

uncertain. But I kept reassuring him and you know what I said. I said, I'm here. I'll catch you. I won't let you go, just trust me. Do you trust me? And the answer to that question was yes. He did. He trusted me. He jumped. And that jump into that pool into my arms, that was a gift. It was a gift for him. It was a gift to me. It was a gift in our relationship. God has given everything for you. He's given his own son's life for you. Won't you trust him? I know that you're insecure. I am too. I know that you're uncertain. I am too. But won't you jump into his hands? See, the truth is, I connect with this story in a second way. I feel. I feel. feel a lot like Moses in my life. A lot of times I'm afraid to jump. I'm too insecure. I'm too uncertain.

And at the end of the day, I find that I don't trust the one person I know I should. Jesus, maybe you've been there too. Have you considered maybe how your indecision, your uncertainty, your insecurity, have you considered how maybe that hurts your Heavenly Father's heart when you refuse to jump, when you say send someone else? Have you considered how much he wants you to leap out and trust him in faith, here's the good news. It's not too late. God might have briefly been frustrated with Moses, but he's the father who never gives up. He never gives up on Moses and he'll never give up on you. If you haven't jumped, now's the time. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an

email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.