Not Our Power, But His Power (Exodus 4:13)

But he (Moses) said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
—Exodus 4:13

That is a short verse with significant implications for who we are, who God is, how we pray, and what God calls us to do. Let me read it one more time. Exodus 4:13: “But Moses said, ‘Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.’”

That statement from Moses follows his earlier words to God: “God, I can’t do what you’re calling me to do.” He says, “I am slow of speech and of tongue. I can’t speak to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Israel go. I can’t do that.” God responds by saying, in effect, “Who gave you your mouth? Who enables you to speak? I did.” The implication is clear: God is saying, “I will equip you for everything I call you to do.”

Yet even after God says this, Moses still responds, “I don’t want to do what you’ve called me to do. Send somebody else.”

Exodus 4:13 reminds us that God supplies what he commands.

How easy it is for us to have the same mentality in so many ways. We doubt that God will give us what we need to do what he calls us to do. How tempting is it for you and for me—often on a daily basis, in the job God has given us, the situation God has placed us in, or whatever he is calling us to—to think, I can’t do this.

In one sense, that realization is healthy, because the reality is—echoing John 15:5—you’re right. I’m right. There is nothing God calls you or me to do that we can accomplish in our own power, with our own resources, or in our own strength. That is why Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”

But the key words are apart from me. Left to ourselves, we all have weaknesses. We are incompetent in a very real sense. When I look at my life, there is no way I can be the husband God has called me to be, the father God has called me to be, the pastor God has called me to be, or the man God has called me to be apart from him. There is nothing on my list today or tomorrow that I can do apart from the grace, help, and mercy of God. I feel that every day, and I trust you do too. If not, that is pride before God—to think you can do what he is calling you to do on your own. You cannot.

But here is the beauty: he is the great I Am, and he has given you—and will give you—everything you need. He promises to do so. This is Jesus in Matthew 6 saying, “Do not worry about tomorrow. My mercies will help you tomorrow, just as my mercies will help you today.” And yet we are still prone to say, “I don’t want to do it.” We are still prone to turn away from what God is calling us to do.

Exodus 4:13 calls us to courage in the face of overwhelming assignments.

So let us pray in light of this tendency—not only in Moses’s words and life, but in our own hearts. God, we pray that you would help us to do all that you call us to do. Keep us from saying, “Please send someone else.” We trust that you are all-wise, all-sovereign, and all-good, and that you have placed us where we are right now for a reason.

I pray this over every person listening—those facing trials, challenges, and difficulties—that they would know you are with them in the midst of it all. There is nothing they can do in their own strength, but with your power, your strength, your joy, your peace, your wisdom, your resources, and your help, they can do—and are designed to do—everything you have called them to do.

So, God, keep us from saying, “Please send somebody else,” which we confess we are prone to say. I have thought many times over the last year, Somebody else can do this. Yet I praise you for your love, your wisdom, the situations you place us in that make us totally dependent on you, and your faithfulness to give us all we need in those moments.

A Prayer for the Devanga People

On a global scale, as we pray continually for unreached peoples today—we pray for the Devanga people of India, hundreds of thousands of people with virtually no gospel witness—we pray: send any one of us to them in India, not somebody else. Send us, and send us in the strength you provide. We praise you that you do not leave us to our own resources but equip, enable, and empower us to do everything you have called us to do.

So we look to you today and say, “Help us in every way,” trusting that you will provide everything we need to accomplish all that you have called us to do.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.