Wednesday, June 10, 2009

"I Can't Be Moses, But I CAN BE ME"

Riding in to work this morning, I was blessed to hear the end of a 14 part devotional series on the life of Joshua. I went in to work a little later this morning than usual and heard a program that nornally wouldn't play during my drive time. For some time now, I have been struggling with a number of issues at work. One of those issues is very much related to a feeling of inadequacy... of never being able to quite measure up. My dad is a very talented and wonderful practitioner. He is truly as gifted as any dentist I have ever met. He, of course has been practicing dentistry for 35 years plus, while I have only been out of dental school for a little over 3 years. It is a given that he is superior, but sometimes I just feel incredibly inferior. Well, God knew my heart this morning, and he gave me a little nugget from the devotional on the life of Joshua that I've been chewing on all day. :-)
The speaker began by reading Joshua 24:29 "After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old." She reviewed all that Joshua had accomplished in his 110 years by serving the Lord to the fullest of his ability during the lifetime he was given. We only get one lifetime, she said, and we shouldn't squander it or waste time being distracted. She then described how Joshua could have been distracted or discouraged with the fact that Moses, who led before him, was such a great and mighty prophet who knew God face to face. Deuteronomy 34:10 says, "And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharoah and all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of Israel." How discouraging this could have been for Joshua as he took over the leadership of Israel. "The Bible tells us that no prophet before or since has ever been like Moses. How can you measure up to that? You can't," she said. "Joshua knew, 'I can't be Moses, but I can be Joshua, and I can serve the Lord in my own way with the talents and abilities he has given me.' And Joshua went on to be a great, great leader for the Lord."
How refreshing! How liberating! "I can't be Moses, but I CAN BE ME."
Thank you, God, for sending these words my way.

2 comments:

  1. Ginger, I'm so glad you received this encouragement from God's Word. I am praying for you!
    (And I have to say you are rockin' at blogging, already 5 posts this week! Amazing! I have trouble keeping up with 1 or 2 a week...I know I have a lot to learn from your discipline! Thanks for sharing your heart!)

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  2. Hi Ginger! Welcome to blogging!! You are off to a great start. And this post is a great reminder that the Lord has His own unique purpose for each of us. I really enjoyed doing the Christmas play with you. I also adore watching Peter in the nursery. I love his movie star smile! I didn't realize you had only been at Calvary a year. We are approaching 3 years in August. I look forward to reading your blog! Blessings!

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