Growing up I hated gym class for several reasons besides having to wear those gosh awful uniforms. I am not a competitive person so it was always hard for me to take the games seriously that we would play. I was athletic but I could have cared less about playing dodge ball, volleyball or kickball. Everyone knew I was the class clown and non competitive so when it came time for people to pick teams guess who was normally last. Although I didn’t care about the game I cared about being picked and not being last. Every time I came in last it was a blow to my ego and self-esteem. I remember that awful feeling of standing there last because nobody wanted me on their team. It was humiliating. All the popular athletic cool kids were picked first leaving me last every time. I felt weak, unwanted, and the least of these. In fact as I grew older I was never the first one picked for anything. I kinda just land in the wind and end where it takes me. I don’t blow to one way or the other and I've always been that way. I always viewed myself as someone who was mediocre at everything, never standing out. I never felt good enough, talented enough, smart enough, pretty enough, funny enough, athletic enough…. I was just me. I never won a superlative in high school. I never really won anything so I carried that belief of not being good enough with me until now, being 27.
I can confidently say that I am not the only one that feels this way. Now with social media it's natural and normal for us to compare ourselves to others. It’s hard not to when we see highlight reels of people’s lives every second of every day. It’s easy to label ourselves as less than and inadequate. We start to question our worth and our purpose and that's where the devil starts to plant seeds of doubt and anxiety. In fact I know this isn't a new phenomenon because so many people in the bible carried these same feelings. God would ask impossible tasks of everyday people and they did not feel worthy of their calling. Moses in fact even told God that he was not worthy of the plan God had for him. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and told him to set the people free out of Egypt. Moses in response to God said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt”. Moses believed there were better, stronger, wiser people that God should have called, for why would God choose a man who was running from the law?
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 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?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” -Exodus 3:7-13
God called Moses to set thousands of people free and start a new generation in a chosen land that he wouldn't even ever see. Imagine God coming to you with that...I can’t even remember to lock my car the two seconds after I get out of it...those people would be screwed if I led them. Maybe if I had waze but if not...count me out. That’s a hard pass for me God, give me something else to do like smile at someone or to open someone’s door, that's more obtainable.
So Moses led the people in the desert for 40 years...that's 4-0 YEARS YALL! If I was Moses I would have been telling myself “yup I was right. He sent me to bring these people into the holy land and here I am 40 years later still in the desert. I told God to send someone else because I wasn't capable but he didn't believe me and now I have let all these people down. I knew this wasn't the right choice. I should be back in Egypt being a nobody. God called the wrong person.”
How many of yall would have had that dialogue with yourself? You would have felt like you messed up, you weren't good enough, ready enough or adequate enough. You would have internally ripped yourself apart and question God’s decision picking you. Yet, what Moses didn’t know that the seed he had planted wouldn't grow right away but when it would grow it would be more beautiful and stronger lasting the test of time. Although Moses never saw the delivery of his people his people in Israel are still being delivered today. Over three thousand years later Israel is still the pride and joy of God, far surpassing any and all circumstances.
Now in 2020 Israel is a testament of God’s power and devotion to its people. Many of us don’t realize how protected Israel is because of God’s promise to his people. Now look at the picture below….
Israel, the land Moses led the people to, is the tiny tiny little country in red on the map. All the other countries around it are Islam territories that were taken over by war. Israel is surrounded and outnumbered, it's the least of all the countries yet it has seen a victory and continues to be victorious. The number of countries around it should be more powerful but to God numbers don't equal outcome. To God the least of these, the “inadequate” and the outnumbered are the ones being blessed. They were outnumbered but because they were blessed they saw a victory. Such as Moses.
I’m going to tell you some facts about Israel but now keep in mind how small Israel is to its surrounding countries and the world.
Israel has the highest rate of entrepreneurship among women and people over 55 in the world
When Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel in 1969, she was only the third women elected to lead a country in the modern world
In regards to its population Israel has the highest ratio of college degrees, museums and startup companies
Motorola developed the cell phone in Israel
Voicemail technology was developed in Israel
The first antivirus software for computers was created in Israel in 1979
Israel published more books translated from other languages than any other nation in the world
Life expectancy at birth in Israel is 82 years
AOL instant messaging was developed by an Isralei software company
A cooking oil developed in Israel is capable of breaking up cholesterol and other bad fats
Israel is one of nine countries in the world that can launch its own satellites into space
So let's put this into perspective. A man who murdered someone, who was working in a field running away from the law was approached by God in an unexpected way. God called the man to free thousands of people and to bring them to the promise land. The man thought of himself as inadequate and not worthy or good enough to perform this task yet He trusted God. He led the people in the desert for 40 years and never even got to see the land he promised the people. The land over 3,000 years ago that God blessed is still blessing people today. This small, outnumbered, surrounded piece of land is victorious because it's blessed despite everything. The least of these is the greatest of all not because of its size but because of the promise. God did not choose the Isralites because they were better than others but because they were the least of these. Israel has survived war after war and yet is still standing.
We are all Israel. We are all Moses. We think we are less than. We are picked last in gym class. We don’t win first place or stand high above the rest yet because we are blessed we will see victory in our lives. GOD LOVES THE UNDERDOG. You don’t have to have your shit together for God to use you. You don't have to see the promised land to have an impact. You don't have to believe in yourself for God to. You may be surrounded by sin, anxiety, comparison, enemies, sickness, addiction, lust, temptations yet because God believes in you YOU WILL MAKE IT. WE MAY FEEL LIKE WE ARE STUCK IN LIFE BY BAD OUTCOMES BUT THAT DOESN’T DICTATE OUR PATH BECAUSE GOD’S PROMISE IS BETTER AND STRONGER. Remember numbers don't equal outcome and outnumbered can mean blessing.
God uses ordinary people to perform extraordinary things that will bless far more people than we could have ever imagined. While Moses felt like he failed in the desert, while he was beating himself up he was planting a seed that would save millions of people for thousands of years. God calls us to do little things everyday that we may not see a purpose for. We feel like we are in the desert working for him yet not seeing results. What we have to remember is sometimes we won't see the promised outcome but that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. Maybe your kids will reap the outcome or your grandkids. You could be fighting to break generational chains or regional demons in your area. You are big enough and good enough to be used. Your outcome will come and it will be blessed. You will doubt your worth, the promise and the journey but that doesn't determine the blessing. Keep going. Keep believing and keep allowing God to use you for extraordinary things. You are Israel, it's in your DNA, you will make it and see a victory. Victory is coming.