NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from The Gospel Project curriculum.
Bible Passage: Exodus 4
Discussion Questions:
- What excuses do you tend to make that may be keeping you from being used by God?
- How have you seen God’s provision as you have obeyed His calling on your life?
- Whom can you partner with this week as you take steps toward fulfilling God’s call on your life?
Food for Thought:
Sometimes we live with pride in our strengths, but sometimes we live overwhelmed by our weaknesses, unable to see how God can use us. In the Bible, we see over and over again how God uses us through His strength despite our weaknesses, equipping us for service.
After Joseph’s death, the Hebrews in Egypt faced great oppression at the hands of the Egyptians. God heard their cries, remembered His covenant and called forth a deliverer – Moses – to rescue the Hebrews from slavery.
Miraculously saved from death as a baby, Moses grew up in the Egyptian court but later ran away to Midian. There God met him in a burning bush and told him He was sending him to deliver His people from the Egyptians. Moses, however, was full of excuses. In response, God showed him His power by changing Moses’ staff into a snake and back again. God also squashed any more excuses by telling Moses He would send Aaron with him.
God knew the weakness of Moses better than Moses did, but God chose to use Moses anyway. God knows our faults too and chooses to use us to bring about His will and purpose. The qualification for being employed by God doesn’t rest on our special accomplishments or spiritual resumé. It rests on God’s grace. When God calls, He works through our weaknesses and uses the community of His people to accomplish His purposes. He reminds us that His strength is sufficient, and everything is under His sovereign hand. We just need to trust and obey, making ourselves available to be in His service.
We can see the ultimate example of this in the life of Jesus. Like Moses, Jesus was also called to deliver and save God’s people. And He did so by humbling Himself, making Himself weak, making Himself human when He was God. He obeyed the Father by sacrificing Himself, all for the love of humanity. May His example be our guide and our strength as we continue to follow God’s call on our lives.
The Gospel Project
The Gospel Project is a chronological, Christ-centered study for kids, students and adults. The Bible is not a collection of stories. It is one story of God’s plan to rescue His people from sin and death. It is the story of redemption, the gospel message of Jesus Christ. More information can be found at Lifeway.com/gospelproject .
