Lord, Please! Send Someone Else: Moving in Your Mission When You Are Not Motivatedनमुना

“Rachel, I can’t give you the next set of instructions until you follow the last.”

I remember about four years ago when God spoke these words to me, and I didn’t want to hear them. It was during a time when He was leading me to address an extremely uncomfortable issue head-on. I didn’t want to face the person. I didn’t want to deal with the difficult conversation or potential outcome. In my opinion, I was doing just fine brushing it under the rug and minding my own business.

But no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I felt this nudging in my spirit that I needed to handle this.

Once I heard those words, I knew I was holding up God’s best for me because I did not want to face this issue. As much as I thought I was moving forward, in reality, I was being held back. My future physical, emotional, and spiritual freedom hung on my willingness to stop running and being held captive by my past. God is such a loving and wise Father. He would not release the next set of instructions for the new season until I addressed the issues of my past that might attempt to steal the blessings to come.

I would later discover how that single difficult act of obedience set me up for amazing provision and favor. Additionally, I found out that, much like Moses, I was running from something that God had already taken care of.

Moses probably felt that entering Pharaoh’s territory and demanding him to let go of all his slaves was a death sentence. Didn’t God remember he was a fugitive in the land of Egypt?

Moses didn’t come right out and say no to the mission. He tried to reason with God by asking Him questions that were, at the core, excuses.

When I read the story of Moses, I am fascinated by how easily his list of excuses can be translated to some of my very own:

1. Who am I to do this? (Exodus 3:11) i.e., I can’t do this, God; why did You pick me?
2. Who are You that they should listen to me about You? (Exodus 3:13), i.e., I am going to look like a fool in front of all these people.
3. What if they don’t believe You sent me? (Exodus 4:1), i.e., These people aren’t Christians. They won’t understand or care.
4. I’m not qualified. (Exodus 4:10), i.e., I have no clue how to do this, and I certainly can’t learn right now!
5. I don’t want to do it. ( Exodus 4:13) i.e., I’m afraid. Why are you asking me to do this?

Here is the truth: God knew Moses’ excuses, and attempts to reason were only symptoms of a deeper fear that Moses had not mentioned, a fear of facing the people and the problem he had run from.

I can’t help but wonder why God did not tell him up front that the people who wanted to kill him were dead (Exodus 4:19). Maybe it was to get Moses to the same point He wants us. The point where we are willing to move in our missions, even when we are not motivated, because the mission is not about motivation; it is about movement.

Indeed, Moses had to face his fear and fulfill his mission.

The next part of the story is the most beautiful and reveals the true nature of God when we move despite lacking motivation.