Give It Up. Let It Go. Throw It Down.

   

                      Moses

What do you hold in your hand today?

To whom, or to what, are you bound?

Are you willing to give it to God right now?

Give it up.  Let it go.  Throw it down.

 

In the late 70's, singer/songwriter Ken Medema wrote this song, simply entitled "Moses."  It's a powerfully written interpretation of the conversation between God and Moses when God called him from the burning bush and told him that he was to lead the people of Israel out of bondage.

It was an enormous request.  Huge.  Herculean.  Elephantine.  Gargantuan. (I love my thesaurus).  God wanted Moses to go back to Egypt (the place he fled from after murdering an Egyptian), go to the Pharoah (the military and political leader of Egypt) and demand that he release all of the Jews who were the slave labor of the Empire.  Who could blame Moses for his response?  "Not me, Lord!"  And then he listed his reasons why.  They were good ones.

• The Israelite people probably won't even listen to me, far less believe what I tell them.

• And how in the world will I convince them that it was You, God, Who really spoke to me?

• Oh, and by the way, I am a terrible public speaker.
  
  

But it's actually what Moses says first to God that I think gets at the heart of the matter -- and at the heart of his fear.  

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"  

Moses had become a shepherd.  His place was now with his new wife and son.  His shepherd's rod was now his security.  It defined him.  "Who am I?"  He was a shepherd.

Who am I? Who am I, God, that I should be used by You in this way?  Who am I, God, that You would call ME to do this?  Who am I?


March into mighty Pharoah's castle and demand that he release all of his slave labor?  Lead the entire nation of Israel out of their 400 year-old captivity as slaves in Egypt?  I would be TERRIFIED.  Moses had good reasons to question God's request - but I guarantee that I could come up with better ones!

Actually, I could come up with hundreds of reasons why God can't use me -- shouldn't use me.  And truthfully, I have to fight those reasons almost every day.

We all have them.  Reasons.  Excuses, really.  We might not voice them very often, but we live by them.  And we put limitations upon ourselves, and God,  because of them.  I've heard all these reasons/excuses before -- and I've used some of them myself:

• I'm too old.  I'm too young.  

•  I'm single.  I'm married.  I'm divorced.  I'm widowed.

• I don't have my degree.  I don't have the right degree.  I don't have enough degrees.

• I'm not a good communicator.  I'm not a good listener.

• I'm in the middle of a relationship.  I just broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance.

• I don't have enough resources.  

•  I don't have a job.  I don't have the right job. 

• I'm just a student.  I don't have any experience.  

• I'm just a mother.  I'm just a father.  I don't have any children.  I can't have any children.

Whatever reasons we might give on the surface, often there are deeper issues at work that are far more personal, and far more limiting -- even damaging -- to us.  Issues that truly get to the heart of the matter.  Issues that eventually have us crying out,  as Moses did, "Who am I?"   Scars, brokenness, past failures, lack of confidence, physical limitations, lack of education, crippling fear.  Believe me, I know.

Perhaps you're in bondage to what other people think about you.  And you've allowed their opinion to define who you are, what you can do, and what you are incapable of doing.  It is often those closest to us who whisper that haunting question in our ear, "Who are YOU to do this?  You're not qualified.  I know all about you.  I know you can't do it."

"Not me, Lord!"

But then God asked Moses to throw his shepherd's rod on the ground.  A simple request, perhaps.  Except that the rod had become the symbol of his life.  His security.  His identity.  "Throw down your rod, Moses." 

And then it happened.  In the Hands of God, the ordinary became the extraordinary.  The rod of Moses became the rod of God.

"Throw it down, Moses.  See what I can do with you!"  And God used Moses to free the nation of Israel.

So what do you hold in YOUR hand today?  To whom, or to what, are YOU bound?  Is it your past?  Is it your present situation?  Is it a person?  Is it fear?

Whatever it is, give it up. 

Let it go into the mighty Hands of your loving Father.  Release it to God.  You really can let it go.  You really must  let it go.

And then... watch and see.  Watch and see what God can do with you when you're FREE. 




If you'd like to hear Ken Medema singing "Moses," click this link.  It's an incredibly powerful song.
www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WLGZ7LNX