You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. Exodus 4:15
In an effort to install plumbing in an old garage, I recently found myself cutting a trench out of the concrete floor. I didn’t intend to rent fancy, expensive equipment for it. I thought I had the tools for the job, using my little circular saw and a sledgehammer. That was a joke. I ended up at the rental store, obtaining the proper concrete saw and jackhammer, which of course, made the job possible. It was still hard work, but I’d still be out there if I’d have insisted on doing it my way. As it turns out, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, and doing it the right way made all the difference.
This is analogous to the lesson God taught Moses in today’s passage. In the story, God commanded Moses to return to Egypt to free his people from slavery. Moses had multiple excuses, finally pointing out that he was a terrible public speaker. God told Moses that he would send along Aaron, Moses’ brother, to speak for him. God promised to give Moses the words to say and the fortitude to deliver the message. God would lead Moses, but it was up to Moses to obey. If he followed God, God would go with him. If he disobeyed, as we’ll see a few verses later, God would threaten him with death. For Moses, there were two options, a right way, and a wrong way, and following God’s way made all the difference.
God has been teaching me this lesson. When I follow my way, I find futility, misery, and despair. When I follow God’s way, I find life, joy, and peace. Why then, would I ever want to follow my way? It’s because I still want what I want, even if it stands in opposition to God’s will. I still have a self-destructive appetite that finds immediate gratification in the unhealthy, even knowing that I’ll pay a price later. When I go my way, I pay that miserable price. When, however, I go with God, he goes with me, and that makes all the difference.
This is our daily choice – To go our way or to go with God. When we go with God, he goes with us, and that makes all the difference. This doesn’t mean that everything will be easy. Cutting concrete was still terribly hard work, even with the right tools. It just means that we’ll experience the life, joy, and peace that comes only from walking with God.