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God called. Moses resisted.
Excuse after excuse, Moses whined about his inabilities.
"Send someone else", Moses advised. And if it were me, that would have been the end of Moses's story.
But like an old hymn reminds us "he looked beyond our faults and saw", for Moses his true potential.
So it would seem the Lord took pity on Moses, knowing his frame [Psalm 103:14] and presented him with a counter offer.
He would not send someone besides Moses, he would send someone beside Moses- Aaron, Moses' brother.
From the point in the story between Exodus 4:27 to Exodus 8:20 God strategically positions Moses to assume his God-ordained role. Moses is still the one God speaks to, but he is instructed to tell Aaron what to say. Aaron speaks God's words, and carries out his instructions. Exodus 8:5. Exodus 8:16. A few times, the scripture indicates Moses and Aaron are given a task to execute together;clearly Moses is not yet ready to go solo. God in his infinite wisdom and compassion, takes him from uncertainty in himself, to a strengthened certainty in Jehovah.
After the miracles and the signs and the three plagues Moses witnessed with is own eyes, one can imagine,his view on God transforms.
With the warning of the fourth plague, the fly invasion, Moses is instructed by God to go before pharaoh and speak. Moses must have obeyed because in the verses that follow, the Lord performed his word. Exodus 8:24
In distress pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron. Notice here, Moses, the one who claimed himself " slow of speech and slow of tongue" without hesitation, speaks up. [Exodus 8:26] Moses is being transformed.
Plague 5, God tells Moses that he should go tell Pharaoh ... Exodus 9:1. God does not use Aaron as the middle man in this or the last plague. Moses is getting his feet wet.
Plague 6, the boils, God tells Moses and Aaron to perform a task together. Exodus 9:8,10 God pushes Moses out of his comfort zone a little, yet still allows him to feel the comfort of his brother's support.
Plague 7, the hail , God again pushes Moses out front, instructing him to himself tell pharaoh...
Plague 8, the locusts, Moses and Aaron go together to deliver the message. Yet when the word of the Lord is to be fulfilled, God does not tell Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his rod. Instead, God tells Moses to stretch out his own rod in Exodus 10:12 and Exodus 10:21.
It's a remarkable story of God's patience and tough love. He pushed Moses into becoming what he knew Moses was meant to be, despite Moses's resistance.
While God may call us to roles that seems way bigger than ourselves, know that all God needs is the tiniest bit of willingness, even in the fear- he can work with you, if you let Him.
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