BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (verse10). Moses didn’t have much confidence in himself, but God was patient until Moses said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” Then we read, “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses,” and God allowed Moses to use his brother Aaron as his spokesman (verses 13-17). All of Moses’ reasoning and excuses made the anger of God kindle against him—it did not change God. God hadn’t changed His plan for Moses’ life, but because of Moses’ lack of confidence, God allowed him to use Aaron. Consequently, because that wasn’t God’s plan, Aaron caused Moses quite a bit of trouble down the road. And the worst consequence was that Moses didn’t enter into the Promised Land. It was all because of an attitude of disobedience, self-doubt and making excuses. As I studied this example, the Lord said to me, 'Excuses do not move God from His plan for your life, but they will move you from His plan for your life.' And that’s what ultimately happened to Moses. When we give God excuses, we move off His plan for our lives. Excuse #2: Lack of Social Position The next excuse is something you hear all the time: “Well, I’m not rich…. My family is not that…. You are successful because you are this…. You have a lot of money…. You come from a family with good connections…. You are black…. You are white…red, green….” and on they go. This is the excuse Gideon tried to give to God: “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). Gideon judged that he could not save Israel because he wasn’t rich, he was the least in his father’s house, he didn’t come from the “right” clan. But that didn’t matter to God, because God knew He was Gideon’s supply. He was Gideon’s way to victory. God’s response to Gideon was, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (verse 16). A lack of social position does not move God, so it’s wrong to use that as an excuse to Him. There are race and socio-economic divisions in virtually all cultures, but God has given everyone the way to break through those barriers. Regardless of where you were raised, how much money you have, or into what family you were born, God can make a way for you. Excuse #3: It’s Too Hard In Proverbs 22:13, we read of a third excuse that few would call by its real name. Solomon wrote, “The lazy man says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!’” Now, I never hear people say, “Oh, I’m just too lazy to do it.” No one would admit that! But they do say, “Oh, it’s just toooo hard.” And that’s basically what the lazy man in Proverbs was saying. We’ve all acted this way before…and too often we see it in our children. A couple years ago, Rachel, my oldest daughter, needed to raise money for a youth trip. When my dad learned she was believing for money, he told her, “Rachel, I have a job for you to do out at the ministry.” On the day he specified, we met Dad at his office in the airplane hangar. Rachel was pretty excited until he took us out to the main area where the planes were parked, handed Rachel a broom, and said, “Rachel, sweep the hangar.” The hangar was huge, but Rachel just nodded to her grandfather. But after Dad disappeared into his office, she asked me, “Mom, don’t they pay people to do stuff like this?” I smiled and said, “Yeah, you. Now get to work.” It was a daunting task. The floor was scored in 5-foot-square sections, so it looked like 5-foot squares of concrete all over. I told Rachel, “Just start one block at a time.” She did, and she did a really good job earning some money for her trip. Many times what God tells us to do may look impossible…but if you just start, He will always tell you how to do it. Don’t give Him excuses. Just say, “Yes, Sir.” Excuse #4: Outside Distractions In Luke 14:16-17, Jesus tells a parable filled with excuses of outside distractions and considerations. The parable begins telling us, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’” Verses 18-20 go on to reveal the excuses the people made: "But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’" God had a plan for all of these people to be blessed, but they all had excuses. The master didn’t say, “You go get them, and you drag them in here. They need to be here. Go get them by force.” No, he didn’t do that. And God won’t either. God won’t force you into His plan for your life. If you make excuses, He will excuse you. He will excuse you from being blessed. Excuse #5: Shifting the Blame When I was a child, I always shifted the blame onto my brother. Children naturally do this…and they grow up into adults who do it unless they are trained otherwise. Adam did this to Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, we read that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they hid from God. When God called out to Adam asking, “Where are you?” they came out of hiding, and Adam told God he was afraid because he was naked (verses 9-10). “Who told you that you were naked?” God asked (verse 11). That was just a simple question that called for an answer—not an excuse. But Adam answered, “The woman whom You gave to be with me…” (verse 12). He tried shifting the blame. Then the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (verse 13). BVOV : 25

• Cover