Exodus 6:28-30

And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, That the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

It is remarkable that even here, after all the speaking, all the signs, all the reassurance, Moses is still pushing back. The Lord tells him again to go speak to Pharaoh, and Moses answers with the same basic objection he has raised before. “I am of uncircumcised lips. How is Pharaoh going to listen to me?” This is not the first protest. It is the seventh. By this point, we might expect the Lord to set Moses aside and find someone else.

But He does not.

That says a great deal about the patience of God. Moses keeps circling back to his weakness, his inadequacy, and his inability. The Lord keeps circling back to His calling, His word, and His sufficiency. Moses is occupied with himself. God is occupied with His purpose. Moses keeps looking at the vessel. God keeps pointing to the One who fills it.

That is where we so often live too. The Lord calls us to obey, to trust, to step forward, to say what He has given us to say, and our instinct is to answer with all the reasons we cannot. We look at our past, our limitations, our fears, our stumblings, and our lack. We say, in one form or another, “Lord, I am not the right person.” But the issue has never been whether we are enough in ourselves. The issue is whether He is.

And He is.

Moses was not going to stand before Pharaoh because he was naturally eloquent. He was going to stand there because the Lord had sent him. That is always the difference. The strength of the servant is never the real story. The real story is the faithfulness of the God who sends him.

There is a tenderness in this passage that is easy to miss. Moses argues again, and yet the Lord does not give up on him. He does not cast him off. He does not say, “I am finished with you.” He continues with him. He bears with him. He works through his weakness and keeps moving him toward the very thing he feels unfit to do.

That is a needed word. Some people think that because they have hesitated, questioned, feared, or struggled, the Lord must be finished with them. But Moses reminds us that God is patient with His people. He knows our frame. He knows how easily fear rises in us. He knows how often we shrink back. Yet He is merciful still.

That does not mean our arguing is good. It is not. Unbelief needs to be surrendered. Excuses need to be laid down. But our weakness does not cancel His call, and our faltering does not exhaust His patience in a moment. The Lord is able to keep working with a hesitant servant until that servant learns that the power was never in himself to begin with.

So when Moses says again, “How shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?” the deeper answer is plain. Pharaoh may not listen because of Moses, but Pharaoh will hear what God has determined to say. And that is the comfort for every trembling heart. The Lord does not call us because we are naturally strong. He calls us because He is faithful. He did not give up on Moses, and He will not give up on those whom He has set His hand upon.