When his neighbor asked to borrow his rope, a man explained that the rope was unavailable because he was using it to tie up his milk. The neighbor said, “But you can’t tie up milk with a rope.” Then the man explained, “I know, but when you don’t want to lend your rope, one excuse is as good as another.” I wonder if some of the excuses we make to God sound like tying up milk with a rope.
Speaking from the burning bush, God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. Like us, the shepherd had his doubts and offered his excuses. “What if they don’t believe me? (4:1). God gave Moses miraculous ways to validate his claim that the Lord had sent him. Moses continued, “I have never been eloquent.” (4:10). God asked him, “Who gave human beings their mouths?” He even promised to go with Moses and help him speak. Finally Moses came clean, “Send someone else.”
We, too, may wonder whether God can really use someone like us. In our worship planning this week, one of my fellow pastors said, “I spent one summer wondering how God could use me if I was not preaching or singing.” She found peace when God revealed to her that he was not so much interested in her ability or inability but in her availability.
Consider carefully: what is God asking you to do today, this week, this year? Whether or not you think you are capable, are you available. There is no sense telling the God what he cannot do through you. Imagine what Moses would have missed if he had refused to obey God: the ten commandments, the pillar of cloud and fire, the tent of meeting. What will we miss if we fail to trust God in his omnipotence?
Do we remember the line in a new song sung to God, “Since when has impossible ever stopped you?” If God asks today, be sure to untie the milk and hand him the rope. God knows what he is about to do in and through us. Are we available?
