21. Share your weaknesses

Moses was an amazing person, really. He not only continued when all the odds were against him, he listened wholeheartedly to the Lord and followed His instructions to the letter, even when it seemed that everything was going wrong.

But he did make mistakes and he complained quite a bit in the beginning as I have pointed out in previous devotions. But as I am writing this I suddenly realized something. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, including Exodus. He wrote it all. And he included all his moaning and groaning when he started off on his quest. Not only that he wrote how he murdered the Egyptian, he wrote about how his wife Zipporah spoke downgradingly at him, he wrote how God wanted to kill him because he had been disobedient, he later wrote how he couldn't enter the Promised Land because he was disobedient again. He wrote everything, down to the last detail.

Now if I were Moses, I think I maybe would have let those passages slip. I would certainly have written how God appeared to me in the burning bush, but I don't think I would have mentioned all my excuses to get out of the mission ahead. And then I think I would have left out the bit where my wife had to circumcise my sons, because I had given in to her culture and not listened to the Lord. And then I think I would have left out the bit where Pharaoh kicked us out of his palace and how my own people would not even talk to me and how I complained to the Lord. Then I will start again at all the mighty plagues and how they came about. And so I would have gone on.

But not Moses, he spilt the beans, he told everything as it happened, even if it meant putting him in a bad light. All that mattered to him when he wrote these books were God. He didn't want people to remember how great he was, but how great and gracious God was. God deserved all the honor and if people can learn from his mistakes and follow the Lord in a better way, then so be it.

We can once again learn from him. We love to hide our mistakes and our shortcomings, but sometimes it is better to reveal them to others, so that they can learn from them too. If we present this perfect picture to others, you are not conveying the correct message. None of us are perfect; we have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. We must make sure that people don't honor us because we look and act so correct on the outside, but that we point them to God and give Him all the glory.

You alone are perfect Lord. You alone deserve all the praise. Please give us the courage to share our life story with others in order to prevent them from making the same mistake. In Jesus Name. Amen

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