Finding your voice

Exodus 4:10-17

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him."

How often have we contemplated an upcoming interaction with a school friend, only to be paralyzed with the thought that we do not know how or what to say? I hope it is with some frequency; otherwise we are operating too much in our own strength.

The beauty of being in Christian ministry is that we have an (The) advocate who gives us words to speak if we just ask and make ourselves available.

Even more, we have the ultimate "advance man", the Holy Spirit, who goes before us and prepares the way. In this sense, He is working in the heart of the recipient to ready them for what the Lord has brought you to speak.

This is true for the broad communications like mailings and events; we can ask the Lord and He is pleased to stoop down from heaven to hear the heartfelt prayers and petitions of His children. Fathers are like that.

Finding your voice is also recognizing (as Moses did) that he does not speak alone. Aaron came alongside and supported the message and helped in a very visible way. Think of yourself as a member of a large and skilled choir. A single voice is heard and appreciated, but the orchestrated music of many voices coming together in one blended and beautiful voice is a gift from heaven.