Moses’ final objection reveals the source of all his other requests for assurances and his hesitation about his capabilities. He asked the Lord to send someone else (Exodus 4:13). We can identify with the desire to leave responsibility with others. Citizens do that with governments. Parents do that with schools. Church members do that with their leaders. Christians do that with their hired mission and outreach workers. The less responsibility, the less we have to do ourselves, and the less chance of making mistakes and being embarrassed.

However, it was Moses’ final request that also made the Lord angry. The Lord would show Moses the folly of his requests, not by denying them but by granting them (Exodus 4:14). Moses received his wish, but if he thought he would be embarrassed because of his poor speaking abilities, he would be even more embarrassed by the complete irrelevance of Aaron. Although Aaron might have been better at speaking, God’s plan did not depend on the eloquence of people, and he needed to be with Aaron’s mouth as much as with Moses’ (Exodus 4:15; that is why Moses would have been fine on his own).

We serve an awesome and patient God, who sometimes lets us learn how much we missed the point by accommodating to our requests, and answering prayers of doubt and weakness. The Lord’s voice, manifest in the appointment of a leader plagued with weakness, reveals that he is a gracious and very patient heavenly Father. As John Calvin wrote so aptly several hundred years ago, he avenges not our foul ingratitude, but rather adds new remedies for the cure of our unbelief.

Our text gives us the comforting good news that the Lord can and often does use broken, weak, or crooked instruments. Jacob walked with a limp, Moses was not a good speaker, and David harmed his own people. We might think of a thousand reasons why we are not good enough for the task he has given, and we may even ask God to have someone else do it for us, but at the end of the day we have to accept the wisdom of our holy God. He decided to give us the office that we have (whether that is father, mother, or child in the home, or a service position in the church), and to place us in situations where others rely on us to see the glory of God. He gives us these positions in spite of our weaknesses, although perhaps it is better to say that he gives us these positions because of our weaknesses.