Exodus 4  God had called Moses to a great mission.. to deliver the people of Israel out of the dominion of Egypt into the promised land.  But, there were a few obstacles... 

First, Moses was concerned that the people of Israel would not believe him or listen to God's message.  To that the Lord gave him some signs that would convince them if they didn't believe at first.  The staff could be thrown down and turn into a serpent and then restored back into a staff.  Moses' hand became leprous and then was brought back to normal. The water of the Nile would be turned into blood. "And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign." 

Secondly, Moses was concerned with his lack of eloquent speech.  The Lord rebuked him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"  God promised to  teach Moses what to say.. yet he still hesitated.  So the Lord gave Moses a helper.. his own brother Aaron. 

Moses took leave of his father-in-law, Jethro, and took his wife and sons towards Egypt.  But, there was one more obstacle.. "Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.." (v24)  This seems like the kind of obstacle that would make you turn back..  to think that maybe you heard it all wrong ... But, this time it was Zipporah, Moses'  wife that acted.. circumcising her two sons right then and there. This seemed to bring things back into alignment with God's plan. 

After all of this, Moses went on and met Aaron "at the mountain of God".  They went together to meet with the elders of Israel.  Aaron did the speaking and Moses did the signs.. and the people believed! Together they all bowed and worshiped God, rejoicing that He saw their affliction and was ready to deliver them. 

Obstacles.. whether they come from our own fears and insecurities.. or from others.. or from the Lord Himself... are part of our journey too.  It is encouraging to know that God's plans contain the obstacles and the solutions too!  God had a plan to give Moses the evidence he would need to succeed in convincing the people to trust Him.  God had a plan to help Moses speak the words that He wanted him to speak.  And God had a plan to keep Moses walking in the Truth.. to fear God and to be obedient to all of His ways. 

Whatever obstacles we are facing today.. may we trust God to overcome them! He has a plan for us too. 

Father in heaven, You are so good to us. Even when we are facing things that we have no strength to deal with.. You are with us and will bring us through. Thank You for the truth of Your word that gives us courage in the midst of our struggles.. You are our Provider, our Strength.. our Shelter in the time of storms!  You are the Rock on which we stand. We give You praise and worship You. amen.