"Look, you've got the wrong girl!"

Have you ever felt God was challenging or pushing you beyond your limit? A time when you wanted to tell God, “Look, you’ve got the wrong girl (or guy!). I cannot handle this.” How does that saying go again….God only gives you what you can handle. Yeah, I'm not buying what you're selling! I call bluff. So many of my burdens are beyond my ability to handle. That’s the whole purpose of God. God never gives us more than HE can handle. But more than we can handle…there are times in life, when we get WAY more than we can handle.

A medical diagnosis you can’t wrap your head around much less physically battle. A husband who isn’t who he promised he was long ago at the alter. A lost job followed by a seemingly endlessly, unsuccessful job hunt. An aging parent who needs more care than you can manage while simultaneously juggling your own family, job and life stressors. A medically complex child. Strained finances. Or even worse, all of the above! This world is full of situations where we get more than we can handle. There have been several times when I told God, “I’m at my limit. I cannot do this any longer. Something has to give and I feel like it’s me. I’m going to give out.” Weakness and doubt get the best of me.

And then I try to remember Moses. Moses is arguably one of the most influential people recorded in the Bible. He stood up to Pharaoh, led the Israelites to freedom and encountered God in very personal ways. I think of Moses and I think of holiness. I think of strength. I think of God’s plan and purpose.

I don’t associate Moses with weakness. But when God called Moses to his role and task, Moses basically told God, “Look you’ve got the wrong guy!”

Here's a little background: God is talking to Moses about the Israelites being under control of the Pharaoh. God is explaining His plan to use Moses to stand up to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites to freedom. This goes back to God making a promise to Abraham so although freeing the Israelites is a BIG mountain of a task, it is actually part of a much larger grand plan.

Exodus 3:9-11
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God responded to Moses with an encouraging, "I will be with you every step of the way". And yet Moses doubted…

Exodus 4:1
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

God responded by literally demonstrating several miraculous signs He would perform through Moses to prove it was God who sent Moses to Pharaoh. And yet Moses still doubted, reminding God that he wasn’t a great public speaker and tended to be a little "slow" at times.

Exodus 4:10
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 of speech and tongue.”

God responded by reassuring Moses that He would give him the words to speak. And finally Moses was brutally honest and asked God to just send someone else.

Exodus 4:13
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Spoiler alert: The Israelites were freed from Pharaoh's rule under Moses's leadership. Now the experience was not without some major mountains to overcome but God was with Moses every step of the way.

I’ve definitely had times when I have felt like saying, “Lord, please send someone else. I’m not your girl.” It’s funny how God’s plan is always bigger and more complete than mine. During life’s challenges, God doesn’t leave us to handle it alone. I’d even daresay that when we sit back and rest in God’s plan, it works out quite well. And we do prove that with God, we can get through it. We can manage it. The mountain that once stood in front of us, is finally in the rearview mirror. God uses our circumstances, our challenges, for BIG things, even those circumstances which stretch us way beyond our limits.

Challenges, mountains and rearview mirrors,

​Ashley Lucille

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