When his ex-finance finally caught up to him, furious after being abandoned at the altar, Jake realized he was in serious trouble. On his knees in the filth and muck, he begged her to spare his life and his brother’s life.
In the tunnel scene from the movie The Blues Brothers, Jake lets the excuses fly, trying to justify why it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t show up on his wedding day: “I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood! Locusts!!!”
Although not as rapid-fire as Jake’s, Moses presented a laundry list of excuses to God about why he couldn’t possibly be the person to lead the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. I’m nobody compared to Pharaoh (Exodus 3:11). Nobody will believe me (Exodus 3:13). People won’t take me seriously (Exodus 4:1). I’m not good enough (Exodus 4:10). A short summary of Moses’ excuses could read “Why me?”
The Blues Brothers, as the movie’s tag line states, were on a mission from God, and Jake made excuses to finish that mission. Moses, however, rolled out excuse after excuse to get out of his mission.
And, let’s be honest – so do we.
When we are given a mission from God, we all ask “Why me?” and then the excuses fly to get out of it, because that mission will make us uncomfortable and will be inconvenient. Any mission we get from God – helping someone in need, visiting a sick friend, volunteering your time, serving at church, repairing a relationship, etc. – is an opportunity to represent Him. To show people in a tangible way what He is like, and how much He cares for people, especially the lost, and the hurting, and the suffering.
God is ready to help you represent Him right now. Not in a few months, or weeks, or days, or whenever you think you’re going your act together. Not after you have a 1,009 Bible verses memorized. Not once you’ve attended church a minimum of 157 times. Not after you’ve graduated from seminary school.
Now.
Our excuses are a way of trying to conceal our own perceived inadequacies, imperfections and weaknesses, but God has answer to every single one of our excuses. All of God’s responses to Moses can be summarized by His initial response to him: “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). Similarly, in the New Testament, God tells Paul “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Therefore, if the all-powerful, all-knowing and gracious Creator of the Universe is with us and willing to help us, every excuse ends up sounding lame.
Excuses are just another way of asking, “Why me? I mean, there’s got to be someone else, someone better suited, someone more qualified than me, right?” Wrong.
Why you?
Because you are beautifully imperfect, inadequate, and weak. That’s the kind of person God shines through.
God wants to do something amazing through you. Will you stop making excuses and let Him?