Moses: Anxiety in Identity

The real question you need to ask yourself is this: Is what I believe about myself the same as what God believes about me?

But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” (Exodus 4:10)

Who here has ever undersold themselves in order to get out of a task or responsibility you didn’t want?

Yes, my hand is up.

I like people to underestimate me, frankly, because it sets the bar low. So oftentimes I’ll let people think I’m “just okay” at something I’m really excellent at (although to be honest, sometimes that’s for my mental and emotional health because I stink at saying no).

I don’t think that was the case with Moses here. This is one of those interactions that has always intrigued me, because there is no indication throughout the rest of Moses’ “on screen” time in the Bible that tells us he stammered. I mean, maybe it doesn’t show up because Moses wrote the books where he appears.

But here is something I have always wondered: Was Moses bullied?

Remember he grew up in the Egyptian palace as the adoptive son of Pharoah’s daughter. It doesn’t really seem like there was a secret about the fact that he was Hebrew, and we all know how cruel children can be. So did Moses face bullies as a child? As a youth? As an adult?

Did he grow up being told he was bad at speaking? And so he just learned to believe it?

The more everyone tells you lies about yourself, the easier it is to believe it, and as soon as you believe that lie, it becomes a stronghold in your life. Strongholds don’t come down easily.

What are the lies people have told you about yourself? Maybe they were meant in jest. Maybe it was friends teasing. But those lies sank into your soul and became part of your identity somewhere along the way. Now those lies you believe cause you to worry and fret and stress.

So the real question you need to ask yourself is this: Is what I believe about myself the same as what God believes about me? Is that lie I started clinging to as a child actually true?

God made you. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t make failures. So stop believing those things about yourself and let Him use you His way.

Questions for Reflection

• How have moments from your childhood negatively affected your life as an adult?

• Why does it scare you to look deep into your heart and ask yourself what God values about you?

• What are the strongholds the lies from your past have built in your heart?

Weekly Memory Verse

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