Exodus 6:12

Moses was a central figure of the Old Testament — a man chosen by God to lead the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt, where they had been held in brutal captivity for generations. At this point in the story, God has given Moses a message to deliver to Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler in the world. But Moses has just tried to speak to his own people and they didn't listen, crushed as they were by exhaustion and despair. Now God is asking him to go bigger, to Pharaoh himself, and Moses can only think: if my own people won't hear me, why would he? The phrase 'faltering lips' likely speaks to a deep sense of inadequacy — Moses has wrestled with this feeling about himself since the very beginning of his calling.

God, I keep looking at what I lack instead of who you are. I have my own list of reasons why I am the wrong person for what you're asking. Meet me there — not necessarily with reassurance, but with the next step. I will try to take it. Amen.

Moses is standing at the center of the most important assignment of his life and he is telling God it won't work. Not because he doesn't believe in God — but because he doesn't believe in himself. The detail that makes this so painfully human is that he's already tried and already failed. He went to the Israelites, he delivered the message, and they didn't listen. Now he has to go somewhere even harder, and all he can do is replay the last loss. Here's what's easy to miss: God doesn't argue with Moses here. He doesn't say, 'You're wrong, you're quite eloquent, actually.' He just keeps sending him. The calling doesn't wait for the confidence to arrive. If you have ever talked yourself out of something because you were not sure you had what it took — Moses is your people. And God's answer to his doubt wasn't reassurance. It was a next step. Sometimes that is all you get. And sometimes, it turns out, that is enough.