Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord.  I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow in speech and tongue.”– (Exodus 4:10 NIV)

It’s interesting to me that when God called Moses out of the burning bush, Moses said, “I can’t speak well!”  But in Deuteronomy we see Moses preaching, preaching, preaching.  For 34 verses, over the course of an entire month, all he does is preach!

What made the difference?  When Moses said, “I can’t speak,” God didn’t agree.  Instead God responded, “Who made your mouth?”

God will enable you to do the things He calls you to do.  When you say, “I can’t do it,” He doesn’t say, “That’s right.  You don’t have the talent for it.”  He says, “Who made you?”  God made you and God enables you to do anything He calls you to do.  If you don’t believe me, just read Hebrews 11 and you will see that He can do anything!

Next to Jesus, Moses was considered the most humble man that ever lived.  How could he stay so humble?  I think it’s because he saw the glory of the Lord.  If you remember, Moses said to God, “Show me your glory” (see Exodus 33:18).  And God said, “If you’ll stand in the cleft of the rock, I’ll put my hand over you and you’ll see my back side as I pass by.”  That was all Moses needed.  Moses saw enough of Him that he wanted greater glory.  He became hungry for the glory of the Lord.

If you saw Jesus like Moses saw Jesus, what would it make you?  It would make you humble!  When I see His goodness and how much He loves me, it humbles me, too.

Dear heavenly Father, You show us Your glory every time You enable us to do the thing You have called us to do.  We are humbled by the fact that there are no “I can’ts” in Your Book!

“But he who glories, let him glory in the LORD.  For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.” (II Corinthians 10:17, 18 NKJV)

It is good to glory in the Lord because it keeps you from getting into an area of pride.  Pride is always the way down, and glorying in the Lord is always the way up.

One thing that often happen to pastors, on their “way up” in the ministry, is that they begin to exalt themselves.  The mistake that each of us makes—at least once—is to look at “our” successes and to believe that these things have happened because of our own abilities.  Sometimes we forget that God DID these things and we are only the vehicles for His work.  When we begin to walk in pride, we then stumble and fall.

I have found that the Lord really DOES want to exalt us—but He doesn’t want us to exalt ourselves.  Sometimes we count all of the wonderful things that WE have done, but they are actually all the wonderful things HE has done.  Be a blessing-counter!

Dear Heavenly Father,

Today we count our blessings.  We thank You for each of them.  Every advantage, every benefit that we have, truly comes from You, and we praise You for it.

In Jesus’s Name,

Amen.

“My soul, waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5 NKJV)

Sometimes it takes time to receive the wisdom that we need and to have our expectations fulfilled by the Lord.  One time as I was sitting on a plane, the flight attendant came to me and shared that she was a born-again believer.  Then she asked me my advice, “You know, I receive many opportunities to witness on planes.  Many people open up and tell me their problems, and I’m able to lead them to Christ or pray with them.  But I do have to serve alcohol.  Do you think I’m missing God’s will for my life?”

I meditated for a moment, and it seemed that the Lord quickened something to me that I had never thought about in my whole life.  I said, “Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king, and God used him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  Nehemiah had to carry alcohol, and God never condemned him.  That seems to have been his special position.”

This was the answer that she needed, but it was not an answer that came from Marilyn Hickey.  It was an answer that came from the throne of grace.  The flight attendant had waited on the Lord for an answer, and she was not disappointed.  You won’t be, either.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Today help us not to be impatient when we need answers, but to wait on You and know that our expectations will be met by You in due time.

In Jesus’s Name,

Amen.

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”  I Peter 5:7 (NKJV)

Have you ever looked at photographs of our President BEFORE their term of office began and then AFTER it had ended?  Some of the men had, during that time, visibly aged YEARS beyond their actual stay in office.  Each man had carried the cares of an entire nation of his back.  The extreme MENTAL worry had caused a very PHYSICAL deterioration.

When you worry, you are carrying your cares.  Worry is very dangerous.  Your body, mind, and emotions were not designed to carry worry.  In some cases, worry causes mental breakdown and physical collapse.

Today let’s cast our cares on the Lord.  I want you literally to do this:  lift your hands up as though you were holding all of the cares and worries that have plagued you.  Say, “Lord, I cast all of my cares upon You.”  Literally take your hands and CAST those cares upon the Lord.

Now wave at those cares and say, “Good-bye, cares.  You are not mine.  You belong to my heavenly Father.”  He will take care of YOUR cares and turn them into a blessing.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Today we are not going to worry.  We thank You for making provision for every area of our lives.  We believe that You will take care of the things that concern us.

In Jesus’s Name,

Amen.