Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Exodus 6

Aaron to Speak for Moses

28 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

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My Fourth-Grade Teacher was so mean that I still think about her. When I made an effort to honestly explain why I was late, or why I was speaking out in class, she would clamp me down with:

"He who is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else!"

I had no idea where that "proverb" came from...it could have been the Bible, or Benjamin Franklin, or Mother Goose. It didn't matter. It HURT. I wanted to prove to her that I wasn't a good-for-nothing, so when the end of the school year approached, I was determined to produce the absolute BEST "Project" imaginable. Our assignment was to write a paper about China.

It just so happened that my Dad had been in China during WW2 and had actual photos of The Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven, The Emperor's Palace, and the huge Square (now called Tienamen Square) were pictured in lovely sepia-toned prints in my Dad's photo book. I begged him to let me borrow them for my Project. Dad was reluctant, but I promised I would return them unharmed, as they were the only existing prints. And so, I included them in my Project, and got an A+. I was so excited and gratified! I wasn't a "good-for-nothing" after all.

When I opened the folder to return Dad's photos to his ablum, they were gone! I asked the teacher where they were.

Oh, I'll get them back to you, she replied, I just wanted to show them to my brother."

Weeks went by, and still no photos. I finally had to break the bad news to my Dad, who was more mad that I had been cheated than about the Photos. But, in those days, one didn't question the TEACHER, and this particular one was critical because I could not get into the Advanced Placement Class without her approval. Weeks went by, and I kept asking for the photos, and kept getting excuses. Finally, when the Advanced Placement was securely in the bag, I asked her one more time. She gave me another excuse, to which I replied:

"He who is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else!"

Moses had been given a Impossible Mission that he would never be able to accomplish in his own capacity. If he relied upon his own talents, education, or experience, he was doomed to fail. It is not explicit that Moses had a Speech Impediment, but he speaks of having a slow tongue and faltering lips. But the success of his Mission was not dependent upon his oratorial skills. The Hebrew Slaves could ONLY be freed by an Act of God. Moses would ONLY be able to Lead the People by the Hand of God. The Might Egyptian Pharaoh could ONLY be brought down by God Himself.

When faced with an Impossible Mission, we will always fail if we look to our own inadequacies. Instead of looking inward, and making excuses, we should be looking upward to Almighty God, The Omnipotent Author and Finisher of Our Faith.

I Never Got The Photos back but I have a really NICE one of a Tsingtao Street Scene, which I made into a Painting for my Dad in 1999. It is now on the wall over my left sholder as I type today's story.

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS