WHO AM I?

But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11

Moses was responding to God who had just told him He wanted him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. It was difficult for Moses to believe that God wanted him to do this. Forty years earlier, he had failed in an attempt to initiate the deliverance of the Jews. In Acts 7:23-24, Stephen summarizes the attempt.

Now when he [Moses] was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. Acts 7:23-24

News of Moses’ defense of the Israelite reached Pharaoh. As a result, Moses was afraid so he fled from Egypt and lived in Midian for 40 years. After the 40 years, God spoke to him from a burning bush and told him that he was to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses’ response of “Who am I?” meant that the self-confidence he had 40 years earlier had been broken. He was now ready for God to use him.

The Scriptures reveal that God is not looking for the “I am able” attitude in a person that He wants to use. He is looking for the “Who am I?” person. God used Abraham and Sarah to begin the line through which Jesus was to be born. Abraham was 99 years old when God told him that he and Sarah would have a child. Sarah was 90. They both had the “Who am I?” response.

The “I am able” attitude can be changed to the “Who am I?” attitude through suffering and failure—which are in the hands of God. We can participate in the change by willfully experiencing our oneness with Christ.