Strong weakness

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. –Exodus 4:10

We must all confess that we have a weakness in at least one area of our lives. If this were not true, we would be perfect and not need Jesus. At this point, if you feel you have no weakness, we have found one for you: pride. So as we look into this, let us remember that we are at war with the kingdom of darkness, and any intelligent military commander will look to expose their enemy’s weaknesses so they can more easily be defeated. This same commander will also look to remove or strengthen weaknesses in his troops.

Satan is an expert in this area, and he not only attacks our weaknesses for spiritual strategy, but he takes delight in tormenting the people of God. By causing us to focus on our weaknesses, he hopes to demoralize us and tear down our mental resolve to fight so we will voluntarily remove ourselves from the spiritual battlefield. His goal is to make us feel so inadequate that we do nothing. He wants us to feel like every time we step out on faith to do work for the Lord, it will be met with criticism and negative responses.

God is also an expert in weakness, but his motives differ. Jesus was manifested on this earth for the explicit purpose of annihilating the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). When God exposes a weakness; it will be for one of two reasons: 1) to correct and strengthen it, or 2) to use it for His advantage and glory. Recall that He did not remove the thorn from Paul’s flesh. But let us be clear if you are feeling oppression or depression regarding your weakness; it is not God expressing displeasure in you. Satan is attempting to destroy your mind and your desire to press forward.

Now to our story with Moses and the call on his life: to deliver an entire nation from bondage. Just moments before our text above, he found himself standing in the presence and glory of the Lord himself. The bush danced with flames, and Moses’ shoes were removed because holy ground was present. He could see with his eyes and feel the heat from the flame; God was genuine and present. But upon hearing God’s call, the first thing that entered his mind was doubt that spawned from weakness.

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. –Exodus 4:1

His thoughts went directly to the weakness he felt existed in his life. “God are you sure you have the right guy? Nobody will believe that I have heard from you and are speaking on your behalf.” (Exodus 4:1)  “Lord, I am not eloquent in speech, and in fact speak rather slow and poorly. Why would you call me to do something that I am so weak at?” (Exodus 4:10) Isn’t it interesting that Moses’ mind is flooded with thoughts of weakness and inadequacy once God reveals the call on his life?

Can I encourage you today for the call that is on your life? Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged when God reveals your purpose on this earth or gives you revelation into the next phase of it. Where God is taking you is supposed to be greater than your capabilities. You are supposed to feel somewhat incapable because this will increase your reliance upon God. It will also remove doubt from yourself and those around you that God performed the work. In times of your weakness, you will find that God uses you the most because it isn’t about your weakness but entirely about God’s strength. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)