I have been doing a devotional in the book of Exodus and this week I have been focusing on chapter 3. In this chapter, God tells Moses that He has heard the cries of His people who are in bondage in Egypt. God tells Moses that He will deliver them from their bondage. God then goes on to make a request of Moses. God says:

Exo 3:10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

When God first speaks to Moses and Moses learns that God has not forgotten about His people and that He has plans to do something about their pain and their suffering, I am sure Moses was overwhelmed with excitement and joy. I bet Moses’s heart began beating faster and he thought, “Yes Lord! Deliver Your people!” And God’s response was, “I am. I am going to deliver My people and I am going to use you.” Now I’m sure that did not make much sense to Moses and in many ways, it may not make a lot of sense to most of us. Why would God ever use Moses? Why would God ever use us? We know that God is all powerful. We know that nothing is impossible for Him. We know that God can speak and cause mountains to move. We know that He could just say a word and break the chains of bondage. It’s a good question. Why use Moses when God does not need Moses to accomplish His will. God by Himself, can do whatever He wants to do. And yet, what God often wants to do is to use His people to do His work in this world.

Why does God condescend to use people? For one thing, I think it pleases Him to involve us. It pleases Him to see our growth and development. Sometimes I had the grandkids help me do laundry even though they were still very young. They put clothes from the washer to the dryer and then they even folded clothes and help me put the clothes away. Could I have done it by myself? Yes. And I could have done it better and completed the task much more quickly by myself. But I love working with them, spending time with them and seeing how they get better at the various tasks that they help me with. It brings a smile to my face. That’s one reason I think that God involves us. I think it brings a smile to His face. I think He loves to see us grow in our faith, develop new skills, and He loves to be able to say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Another reason I think God works through us is because it provides an even greater display of His power and His glory. Think about it. God does not have to use the greatness of His might to achieve His will. He can work in various ways. God could write His words and His will in giant letters across the sky for all to see. (And if He did some still would not listen, some would question and some would doubt it was done by His Hand.) Yet rather than use such a grand display of power and might, God typically speaks in a still quiet voice. He whispers to the heart of man. He reveals His will to the heart of man as we read His word and He invites us to participate. By speaking through a whisper, by using us, I believe it is an even greater display of God’s power and His glory.  Jesus said in John 15:5

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. … 8 “By this is My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

We bring glory to the Father by letting Him work through us. Now please understand, doing some work or some task is not a way for us to earn our salvation nor is it a way for us to maintain our salvation. God’s word makes that abundantly clear in the Ephesians 2:8 -9.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We are saved by GRACE. It is a GIFT and not because of anything we have done or will ever do! But the very next verse in Ephesians 2 makes it clear that God does have some things He intends for us to do. We read in verse 10:

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Please understand, God has a plan and a purpose for all of us. God has some mission, some task, some request, something for all of us to do. It pleases Him to involve us. God does so, for His glory and for His divine purposes.