Serving God: Are You a Moses or an Abraham?

Serving God should be straightforward, right? God calls us to do something, we do it, and then we’re all happy. But it’s not always like that is it? Sometimes we balk and make excuses. Or we ignore Him completely. Sometimes we pretend we just want some clarity before we take a step forward when we’re actually hoping He’ll say something different.

But it shouldn’t be like this.

Why is serving God so hard sometimes?

I think it’s because serving God takes sacrifice. We have to put our own wants aside to focus on God’s calling.

I think it’s because it’s inconvenient. It wars against our own desires.

I think it’s because it’s hard and daunting. It takes more than we have, and that can be an uncomfortable feeling.

But when it comes to serving God, we have a choice. We can be a Moses or an Abraham.

What do I mean by that?

Well, when God told Moses to go before Pharaoh, Moses came up with excuses.

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. – Exodus 4:10

Instead of following God immediately, Moses listed all the reasons that he couldn’t. He forgot that the reason he could was simple: God was with him.

But when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham packed up his things and headed out.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. – Genesis 22:3

Abraham didn’t ask questions. Didn’t offer excuses. He just did it.

Now I’m not ignoring Abraham’s flaws when it came to trusting God. He definitely made some mistakes in his time. But his response to God’s instructions sticks out in my mind because it had to be hard. He had to have questions. And yet the Bible says that he did it anyway.

And Moses had his redeeming moments, especially when following God in the wilderness. But I can’t get out of my mind how he hemmed and hawed around at first.

Thinking of these two men leaves me with an impression, that when it comes to serving God, to following His will, we have two choices: offer excuses like Moses or just follow through like Abraham.

So are you a Moses or an Abraham?

For more on trusting God, check out my post Limiting God: Stop Putting Your Faith in a Box.