This weekend we celebrate Fathers' Day. When our first child, Heather, was born, I remember feeling completely inadequate for the task. Getting married to Chris was such an easy and joy-filled transition in my life. However, having children was much more personally challenging—especially for the first months of my daughter's life. I'll never forget how helpless I felt to find ways to comfort her when she was crying, to figure out how to reason with her (telling her the three theological reasons why she should go to sleep didn't seem to carry much weight), or even to change diapers. After nine months, I felt like a failure at this fathering thing. And, I thought, "A pastor is supposed to teach other people about things like parenting. I just don't think I'll ever be any good at it myself."
Over the years, I've discovered I'm not the only new dad who has ever felt that way. Deep down, we know that fathering must be doable. A few people have been fathers over the millennia—right? And now, after many years of being a father, I give testimony to the fact that there are few blessings greater than the blessing I've had to be involved in the lives of my children, Heather and Brandon.
So, today's message will be for all fathers who wonder whether they are up to the task—indeed, it's for all people who feel a calling in life that feels bigger than they are. That is exactly what Moses felt in Exodus 3–6 when God broke into his life, turned him aside, and gave him a new calling and identity. He would no longer be a wanderer and farmer in an obscure wilderness. Moses would always be known as the one through whom God rescued his people from slavery.
I find this part of the Exodus story remarkably relevant to us today. The reasons (five of them!) Moses gave for being incapable to do this job sound just like the excuses we give when we feel overwhelmed. And the gracious responses God provided proved to be exactly what he needed. I believe that God would have us hear him assuring us that he will give us what we need when we need it to do whatever he calls us to do.
The Moses who felt inadequate for his calling is the same Moses we remember this weekend because he fulfilled his calling—due to the grace and power of God. The same testimony can be ours. Let's learn how from God's Word.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor