The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
I love the discussions I get to have with my students about the ways that God shows his power and his care for his people. I love that we get to spend class time talking about how Moses was just a normal man, and definitely flawed, but that God chose to use him, just like he chooses to use us. We are currently learning about the 10 plagues, and it's wonderful to read the bible verses to my students and see/hear their reactions to the events in the story. To the wonderful and powerful things that God can do, and that he demonstrates time and time again that he is the one true God. Some of my students have never heard this story, and their eyes widen with understanding and awe as I read and as we talk. They ask incredibly deep and thoughtful questions that require me to think about my own faith and what I believe about the power of God. I teach an incredible class of kids. God sees their hearts, hears their prayers, and is drawing them closer to him. I get to see it every day, and it's beautiful.
I identify with Moses, in a way. If God came to me and told me that he was going to use me to deliver a nation, I would probably doubt too, and beg God to choose someone else. Who am I? He knows my flaws, my many, many flaws, and could surely find someone more able. But this story is applicable in my life today too, because he has called me. He called me out of the comfort and stability I had in California to a life of uncertainty and unknown here. It's not easy. And the task is great. Oftentimes I feel a little like Moses when he calls out to God and begs him to send someone else. I worry, and I let my fears and insecurities take over. I'm not a good enough teacher, my German is terrible, I don't know enough about the culture...the list goes on and on. But when I read this story to my students, the words speak to my heart, and God is there, reminding me that
"I will be with you...I AM who I AM...This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation."
