I was going to call this article, “Not so great questions …” but decided to leave it as it is because, this is a question you and I might ask; not in the same context, but with the same underlying thought.
God had told Moses to go to Pharaoh, “that you may bring my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt”(Exodus 3:10). But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).
So, there you have it. God gave Moses a command to act, and Moses’ response was, “Who am I?” Have you ever felt like that? God has some thing that we need to do, and our response is, Who am I that I should do this? Sometimes we feel inadequate. We might feel unprepared. We might feel unworthy of the task. I am sure that Moses felt all of those things. He had just spent the last forty years tending sheep in the wilderness of Midian; hardly the cutting-edge academy for Pharaonic negotiators. Who am I? he cried. If I might be so bold — wrong question!
When Moses asked his question, God replied, “But I will be with you …” (Exodus 3:12). Did you hear that — “I will be with you!” You see, Moses better question to himself, when he was tasked by God, could have been, “Whose am I?”
Moses had been prepared by God from the very beginning of his life for his service for God. He was protected by the very family who had decreed that all male children born to the Hebrews should be cast into the river Nile (Exodus 1 and 2). Having been brought up in the court of Pharaoh, he was very well qualified to go to that court to plead for the release of the Israelites. But, and this is the big But — God promised Moses that, when he went to Pharaoh, he, God, would be with him.
God has promised that he will be with all Christians. His Spirit lives within us (1 Corinthians 6:19), so He is with us always.
Do not ask, “Who am I?” Ask instead, “Whose am I?” and take courage from that.
Colin R. Vine