The Ultimate Comeback King

Have you ever had 101 excuses?  I know I have.  As a child my parents would tell me to do something, but I would come back with reasons why I could not do it.   When I was in school and made a bad grade or did not complete an assignment, I had an arsenal of excuses for the teacher.  We all have excuses.  We all say we cannot do this and we do not have time for that.   We all, at some point in time, say we do not have the talent to do this or we are not smart enough to do that.  We begin to make these excuses and then we start to believe them as if they are true.  We tell ourselves that we are too tired to carry on, that we cannot do something or it is not worth doing it.  We convince ourselves that we are afraid and we become consumed with worry and frustration because of it.  We begin to believe that we are not smart enough and that no one truly loves us.  Our excuses begin to define who we think we are.

We can have 101 excuses, but with God, they just do not flow.  One of my favorite, if not my favorite, person in the Bible is Moses.  I love his story of redemption from being found in a basket on a river as a baby to being the man God chooses to lead the Israelites.  I love his sweet relationship with God, even though he doubts Him sometimes.  I enjoy reading about all the crazy things the Israelites do despite the repeated warnings Moses gave them.  I love all these things, but my favorite is how God responds to Moses excuses.   In Exodus 3 God comes to Moses and begins to reveal His plan.  He does so via a burning bush.  Talk about an attention getter!  Anyway, God begins to reveal His plan for the Israelites and what He wants Moses to do in order to enact His plan.  Moses is soaking all of this in and he thinks he is not the man for the job.  He has excuses and doubts, but God doesn’t want to hear them, He gives Moses one simple, but powerful sentence.  He tells Moses that He is, “I AM.”

Several years ago I was on a beach spring break trip with some middle schoolers from my home church.  Each morning we would break into small groups and the adults would lead a short devotion.  I was “blessed” to lead a group of 6^th graders.  God love them.  Anyway, one morning we were gathered in our group and we were talking about Moses and how God had called Him.  We began to talk about Moses’s doubts and excuses and then we went on to talk about God being I AM.  I was trying to find a way to explain what exactly God meant by saying He is I AM and then one of the boys raised their hand.  I called on him and he proceeded to say one of the funniest, but most brilliant things I have ever heard come out of a middle schoolers mouth.  He said, “So, Meredith, what you are saying is that God is the ultimate comeback king?”  I scratched my head and thought for a moment and then realized he was on to something.  “Yes”, I exclaimed, “that’s exactly it!”  You see, no matter what “excuse” we give God, He has a comeback for us.  In Exodus 3 God tells us that He is I AM.  That means that whatever we need, He is.  No matter what we throw at Him, He has a comeback.

It’s impossible--  All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

I’m too tired-- I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)

Nobody really loves me--  I love you (John 3:16)

I can’t go on-- My grace is sufficient for you (2 Cor 12:9)

I can’t do it-- You can do all things  (Philippians 4:13)

I can’t forgive myself-- I forgive you (1 John 1:9)

I am afraid-- I have not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7)

I’m not smart enough-- I give you wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30)

I feel alone-- I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

I’m always worried and frustrated -- Cast all your cares on me (1 Peter 5:7) 

My reminder that God is I AM.Honestly, I could go on and on with this list.  However, I think you get my point.  God is I AM.  Whatever you need, He is that.  He is our peace, our strength, our wisdom, our guide, our living water, our bread of life, our comforter, our shield, our defender, our rescuer, our refuge, our redeemer, our freedom, our constant friend.
So, remember, when you think you can’t, God can.  He can, and will, give you the grace, strength and the things you need.  Excuses do not work with Him because He is I AM.