Our Daily Bread devotional, August 27, 2016 - God’s Mouthpiece

Topic: God’s Mouthpiece [August 27, 2016]

Read: Exodus 4:1–12, Bible in a Year: Psalms 120–122; 1 Corinthians 9

Who gave human beings their mouths? . . . Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak. Exodus 4:11–12

My nerves fluttering, I waited for the phone to ring and the radio interview to start. I wondered what questions the host would ask and how I would respond. “Lord, I’m much better on paper,” I prayed. “But I suppose it’s the same as Moses—I need to trust that you will give me the words to speak.”

Of course I’m not comparing myself with Moses, the leader of God’s people who helped them escape slavery in Egypt to life in the Promised Land. A reluctant leader, Moses needed the Lord to reassure him that the Israelites would listen to him. The Lord revealed several signs to him, such as turning his shepherd’s staff into a snake (Ex. 4:3), but Moses hesitated to accept the mantle of leadership, saying he was slow of speech (v. 10). So God reminded him that He is the Lord and that He would help him speak. He would “be with his mouth” (as the original language translates, according to biblical scholars).

We know that since the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God’s Spirit lives within His children and that however inadequate we may feel, He will enable us to carry out the assignments He gives to us. The Lord will “be with our mouths.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You dwell with me. May my words today build up someone for Your glory.

This message was written by Amy Boucher Pye [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]