But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:13
Pardon. Please. It all sounds so polite as Moses asks God for permission to step aside from a sending to Egypt. He bluntly asks God to send someone else.
It wasn’t that Moses didn’t understand his assignment. God made His call clear through a burning bush, the authority of His name, and signs of His presence and power. Moses got the message. He knew what God was asking him to do and would help him accomplish, but instead of saying, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) He said, “No thanks. Send someone else!” (Exodus 4:13)
Does his response resonate with you? Have you ever clearly heard God’s assignment and said, “No thanks. Send her!”?
Although God’s anger burned against Moses, He did not give up on His messenger nor did He release him from His sending. In His providential care, He sent Aaron into the desert to meet Moses and be his mouthpiece. Moses needed Aaron. Together they brought God’s message of judgment to Pharaoh and deliverance to His people.
Jesus initiated the same togetherness when He sent the twelve out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits (Mark 6:7). He also appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (Luke 10:1).
When you became His child, His call to be His messenger was immediate and individual. Yet His sending is carried out in community. Moses and Aaron. The Twelve. Paul and Silas. The community of believers in the book of Acts. The body of believers in the church you call home. The sisterhood of GEMS around the world.
In community we should speak the message to one another and bring it to those who need Jesus. In community the world knows that we are His disciples by how we love one another (John 13:35). In community we stop pointing fingers at others as if to say, “Send her” and instead join together in mission and say, “Send us!”
Who do you need to help you bring the message? Who needs you to come alongside of her to share the gospel? Be intentional and bring the message together this week.
