February 3

The Flawed Messenger

                 But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad.  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 what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him.

Exodus 4:10-16

            I had a significant stutter when I was young.  I would open my mouth to speak and just not be able to get past the first sound in the sentence without a lot of work.  We had a really good speech therapist in my school so by the time I left elementary school the stutter was barely noticeable to the outside world.  However to this day there are times where I will try to say a word that starts with a vowel and get stuck.

            Even though the rest of the world would say that my speech is fine, my stutter is ingrained into my vision of who I am and it has had significant impact on my life.  I tried to avoid public speaking for as long as I could.  I instinctively think through what I am going to say before I speak, checking whether there are words that will be trouble in my head, even before something as simple as answering the phone.  And somehow I find myself in a career field where speaking to large groups is a central component.

            Moses found himself in the same situation.  Jewish tradition holds that Moses had a speech impediment of some sort and so God’s invitation to be His spokesman and champion was nothing short of terrifying.  Moses knew that he would struggle with eloquent speeches and heated debates…surely God could find someone else who was more qualified.  But God chose him; He allowed Aaron to join as an assistant, but Moses was His choice.

            The greatest and most revered leader in the history of Israel was not perfect; his God was.  God loves to use flawed messengers.  Health, wealth and eloquence are not requirements for serving God and transforming this world, purity of heart is…faithfulness is…the courage to stand in the face of our weaknesses and frailties is.  Our kids live these out every day as they are confronted by challenges and obstacles that would make their typical peers refuse to get out of bed in the morning.

            It is unlikely that one of our children will lead a people out of slavery, take them through decades of wandering in the wilderness and then establish a new nation.  The odds are really, really slim.  However, the fact that they have challenges does not mean that they have nothing to contribute and no role to play in this world.  If they are still here, God still has more work for them to do.  Sometimes that work is obvious and sometimes it is a mystery, but a diagnosis does not end a person’s story, it is merely a plot twist.

            God loves to work through flawed messengers.  He draws people to His strength as they see our weakness.   Your child could be a key factor in changing their community because they have been built with amazing things inside.

A moment to reflect:

How could the strength of God shine through your child’s weakness to improve the world?