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Our Excuses & Unbelief

We often approach God with what we think are logical, clear-headed excuses for why we can't step out in faith or obedience. Whether it's a perceived lack of giftedness, physical limitations, or simple fear, today's big idea challenges us to look deeper: Excuses for disobedience are ultimately statements of unbelief.

The Big Idea

Excuses for disobedience are statements of unbelief.

God calls us to bold, unreserved obedience — confident in his power, his presence, and his provision. Yet how often do we give excuses that feel logical, even axiomatic? Frailty. Powerlessness. Lack of giftedness. They feel like good reasons to be exempt.

God's Commands to Us

  • Lives of holiness
  • Overflowing generosity
  • Self-sacrificing love
  • Forgiveness and reconciliation
  • Make disciples of all nations

Obedience flows not from obligation, but from a response to what Christ has already done — faith in the person of Jesus, who finished his work completely.

Setting the Scene: Israel in Bondage

The Exodus takes place in the empire of ancient Egypt — the superpower of the ancient world, whose influence stretched from Upper Egypt south all the way into Mesopotamia. Israel is in bondage. But at the end of Exodus 2, their cry for rescue came up to God — and God heard, God remembered, God saw, God knew.

This is a God unlike the gods of Egypt or Canaan. He is present, invested, and deeply involved in his creation. He delivered Israel not because they were righteous, but as a pure act of grace — salvation unto obedience, not salvation by obedience. Even the book of Exodus takes on the shape of the gospel.

The Burning Bush & the Name of God

Moses, now a shepherd in exile, encounters God at Mount Horeb (also called Sinai). A bush burns but is not consumed — a symbol of life in the middle of the wilderness, and of divine presence in the fire. God commands Moses to remove his sandals: "The place on which you are standing is holy ground." Only God's presence sanctifies.

When Moses asks God's name, God answers with the famous "I AM WHO I AM" — an open-ended assertion of divine sufficiency. Whatever circumstance may arise, I will be there and I will be sufficient. The name Yahweh shares the same verbal root — in Hebrew, a verb meaning "He who causes to be." It is a name of self-existence, power, and vastness.

"I have committed myself to be actively present with you — but I am not at your unfettered disposal."

Five Excuses Moses Gave God

Armed with three miraculous signs and the revelation of the great I AM, Moses is commissioned to deliver Israel. His response? Five excuses — each one ultimately a statement of unbelief.

1

I Am Nobody

A statement of inadequacy. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" Moses failed to see it wasn't about him — it was about God.

2

I Don't Know What to Say

A statement of ignorance. Moses didn't know the content of the message. God's answer: "Tell them I AM sent you."

3

What Will Others Think?

A fear of people. "They will not believe me." Moses failed to fear God above man.

4

I Am Not Powerful Enough

A declaration of weakness. "I am slow of speech." Moses failed to believe God could powerfully work through him.

5

I Don't Want To

The final, honest admission. "Please send someone else." Moses failed to submit to God's sovereign authority.

God's Answer to Every Excuse

To each excuse, God did not say "You're good enough" or "It's not that hard." He confronted self with the reality of God.

"I Am Nobody"

God's answer: "I will be with you."

"I Don't Know What to Say"

God's answer: "Tell them my name. Give them who I am."

"What Will Others Think?"

God's answer: "I will empower you with signs."

"I'm Not Powerful Enough"

God's answer: "Who made man's mouth? Is it not I, the Lord?"

"Send Someone Else"

God's answer: "I will give you Aaron — you are not alone."

The Heart of Every Excuse: Me

What Moses Said

I am not eloquent

What will people think of my reputation?

I am not gifted enough

I don't want it

What Moses Should Have Said

I am nobody, but you are God

I don't know what others think, but I only care what you think

I am weak, but you are strong

I confess my weak desire, but your commands are my delight

If you stay in your lane of strength, you will never learn to depend on God — because you can do it in your own power. The apostle Paul said, "I will glory in my weakness, so that the power of Christ might be made known in me."

God's Patience — and His Patience Has Limits

One of the most beautiful things in this passage is God's tremendous patience and gentleness with our frailty. Again and again Moses makes excuses. Again and again God answers with grace, provision, and presence.

But God will not surrender to our sin and our will. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses — not the anger of condemnation, but the anger of a father who expects better from his child. Our excuses do not excuse us.

"God did not undertake to change circumstances or suggest the task was easier than it looked. He simply confronted self with the reality of God." — Alec Motyer

Don't teach your children they are masters of their own fate. Teach them they are weak and need a big, strong God who is always with them.

Jesus: The Better Moses

Moses was an excuse-ridden, frail intercessor. He knew it. In Deuteronomy 18:15, he prophesied: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… it is to him you shall listen."

Hebrews 3 makes the connection explicit: "Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession… counted worthy of more glory than Moses." When the Father called the Son to the mission of deliverance, Jesus offered no excuses.

John 10

"This charge I have received from my Father."

John 12

"I say as the Father has told me."

John 8

"I do nothing on my own authority."

All the way to the cross — no excuses. Jesus is the true I AM, the better intercessor and deliverer, who completed the mission to its fullest for the glory of his Father.

So What Excuses Do You Give?

If God can use someone as excuse-ridden as Moses, surely he can use us. The great I AM — resurrected and reigning — gives us the same commission he gave Moses: "Go. And I will be with you always."

Examine Your Excuses

What logical, clear-headed reasons do you give God for why you are exempt? A perceived lack of giftedness? A physical limitation? Fear of what others think?

Believe in His Sufficiency

Excuses are statements of unbelief. Do you believe God is who he says he is? His presence, power, and provision are enough — they always have been.

Go Boldly to the Nations

Because of what we have in Christ, we can go boldly — knowing our God will win the day, and that his glory, not ours, is the goal.

Lord, help us not to offer excuses of unbelief, but statements of belief through our acts of obedience. May you be honored and glorified. Amen.