#4: The Contingency Plan

We all know the story about Moses, right?

Performed miracles, made some important people really unhappy, parted the Red Sea, brought us the 10 Commandments...you get the picture. He's a big guy.

Remember his response when the Lord first gave him his assignment to speak to all these people? It went something like this: Uh, Lord, are you sure about this? You're probably thinking of some other guy. See, I've got this speech impediment so talking in front of big crowds is just not my strong point...it's okay, you probably forgot so I'll just let you find someone that's a little better at the speech making. No hard feelings! (For the exact wording, try Exodus 4:10-16)

I feel for Moses--I really do. I had the same thought when the idea of serving a mission came up. Uh, Lord, are you sure about this? You're probably thinking of some other girl. See, I'm not so good at talking to strangers...being bold and declaring the word of God is just not my strong point...so if you just want to find someone else that's better at that, I totally understand...

Yeah, that approach didn't work out for me either. It seems Heavenly Father is determined to pull His wallflower children out onto the dance floor no matter how content we are just sitting on the sides. And the thought keeps crossing my mind: how am I supposed to do this when all of my weaknesses keep getting in the way. I stumbled upon some consolation this morning during my scripture study.

In 2 Nephi 3:17 Joseph of Egypt prophesied about Moses. The Lord told Joseph that He would "raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him...yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But...I will make a spokesman for him." Here's the Lord, talking about an assignment He's going to give one of His children in the future, and He mentions that he's made a contingency plan to compensate for Moses' weakness! Heavenly Father not only knew that Moses would have this inadequacy, He's planned for it. Maybe He's done the same for me! Now my train of thought takes another jump: God could have very well just cured Moses so that he could become this awesome public speaker but he didn't. He provided Moses with a solution that made his weakness irrelevant. He brought Aaron into the picture to act as Moses' spokesperson. Problem solved! And Moses still had a speech impediment.

I know that Heavenly Father doesn't ask us to do anything that we can't accomplish. Sometimes He turns our weaknesses into strengths and sometimes He gives us aids to make our weaknesses unimportant. Either way, if we put our trust in Him we can absolutely do great things. Just ask Moses.