And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore , nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
Moses was a Hebrew man who had been raised in Egypt's royal palace but fled as a fugitive after killing an Egyptian guard. Decades later, God appeared to him in a miraculous burning bush and called him to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh's grip. Moses resisted with a series of excuses. Here, he tells God he has never been a good speaker — "slow of speech and tongue" may suggest a stutter, a speech impediment, or deep social anxiety. He's essentially saying: "You've picked the wrong person." This was at least his third attempt to talk God out of calling him.
God, I bring you my stammering, my self-doubt, and all the reasons I've convinced myself I'm not the right person. You made my mouth — you know exactly what you're working with. Go with me anyway, and be enough where I am not. Amen.
Moses had every human reason to believe God had miscalculated. He was a fugitive, a shepherd, and apparently couldn't get a sentence out without stumbling over it. The task wasn't a small ask — he was being told to walk into the most powerful empire in the ancient world and demand that Pharaoh release his entire free labor force. Moses's protest feels honest, not faithless. "I am slow of speech and tongue." We don't know exactly what that meant physically, but we know what it felt like: the bone-deep certainty that you are not enough for what's being asked of you. Here's what nobody tells you: God's response to Moses wasn't "Don't worry, you'll be great!" It was "Who made your mouth? I did." God didn't promise Moses a cure — he promised his presence. That's a harder comfort, isn't it? You don't get fixed first and then called. You get called, and you discover in the doing that God was there all along. What have you been waiting to start until you feel more ready, more qualified, more fluent? Moses's weakness didn't disqualify him. It became the very evidence that something greater was at work.
Moses offered at least four different excuses before accepting his calling. What do you notice about the way God responded to each one — and what does that pattern tell you about how God handles our resistance?
What's something you've been avoiding or delaying because you felt genuinely unqualified, unprepared, or just not the right person for it?
Moses eventually asked God to send someone else entirely. Is there ever a legitimate reason to decline a calling — or is that kind of request always avoidance? How do you tell the difference?
How does Moses's story change the way you see people in your life who seem hesitant or insecure — a coworker who second-guesses everything, a friend who keeps saying no to things they clearly care about?
If you genuinely believed God's presence was guaranteed regardless of your ability, what's one thing you would say yes to this week that you've been putting off?
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jeremiah 1:6
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
2 Corinthians 3:5
And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Exodus 3:11
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isaiah 6:8
And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Exodus 6:12
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
1 Kings 3:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I am not a man of words (eloquent, fluent), neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and tongue."
AMP
But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
ESV
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.'
NASB
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.”
NIV
Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
NKJV
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.”
NLT
Moses raised another objection to God: "Master, please, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer."
MSG