What's Your Excuse?

The Lord wants to use each one of us, and only if we are available and seriously desire to do so can He use us. Every believer in Jesus has a purpose to fulfill and sometimes we miss out because of some excuses that we make. Interestingly, the bible gives us many examples of those who made such excuses. As we look at some of them, it will help us evaluate ourselves, and enable us to not give such excuses, but rather make the best use of every opportunity that comes our way to serve God and be a blessing to others.

Here are some common excuses that we make.

1. I can’t

A good example for this is Moses. God had a mighty plan for Moses which was why he was saved at birth, brought up in a palace. Nonetheless, when Moses fled into the wilderness fearing Pharaoh’s wrath and spent 40 years in the wilderness, he came to a point of discouragement, a feeling of worthlessness and he had developed a low self-esteem. When Moses encountered the Lord at the burning bush, God revealed himself to Moses as the ‘I am,’ and the Lord also performed mighty wonders right there. The burning bush that was not consumed, the staff that turned into a snake and vice-versa, the healing of Moses’ hand that turned leprous when he put it into his cloak and was healed when he put it in again. These signs should have been enough for Moses to know that the Almighty, miracle-working God was calling him. In spite of it all, Moses was unwilling and had several reasons for wanting to opt out.

This was one the excuses that Moses gave in Exodus 4:10-14, But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses (ESV)

Moses highlighted his weakness and inability to speak fluently, and considered himself unfit to stand before Pharaoh or to lead the people of Israel. Though God encouraged Moses and assured him that He would be with his mouth, Moses still refused, and this made God very angry.

God made each one of us unique, and has gifted us differently. Hence, we should never compare ourselves with others, or put ourselves down based on our inabilities. If God calls us to do something, we must do it even if it is something we are not comfortable doing or something that we think we are skilled to do. God will equip us; He will take our weakness, and display His strength through them.

The same is true of our children. We must encourage them to be all that God wants them to be, and never compare them with other children or belittle them because of their inadequacies.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;” (ESV)

Instead of saying to God, “I can’t” if we can say “I will with God’s strength” we can, and will surely accomplish much. When Moses obeyed and went, God used him to bring a mighty deliverance to the people of Israel.

The next excuse that we can hear often is ….

2. I am afraid

When God called Gideon to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites he was hiding in a winepress and threshing wheat. The Israelites had been so intimidated by the Midianites that they were filled with fear, and were just trying to survive. However, when the people of Israel called out to the Lord, He wanted to send Gideon to be the deliverer for the Israelites.

We read in Judges 6:14-15, “And the LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’ And he said to him, ‘Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.’” (ESV)

Gideon’s excuse was that his background was not good. His clan was the weakest and he was considered least in his father’s house. We read that Gideon was so filled with fear that he had no courage to take on the responsibility that God was entrusting him with. God refers to Gideon in Judges 6:12, as a “Mighty man of valor” which was in total contrast to how Gideon actually felt.