Excuses Only Satisfy the Person That Makes Them!

Excuse: An expression of regret for failure to do something.

Have you ever considered how excuses really only satisfy the people who make them? Seriously - take a minute to think about that. Do you REALLY think the person you're making those excuses to is pleased or happy with them? Not likely. However, luckily for you, we as people didn't just start making excuses, no - this all started with Adam and Eve in the garden! Back in Genesis 3:11, God asked Adam and Eve, " Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Next thing you know - the excuses were born - "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12-13). If you know that story, you know that God wasn't pleased with Adam and Eve's excuses then and He's not pleased today with our excuses.

More often than not, when God calls people into His service, they resisted by coming up with a lot of excuses. Moses, for instance, was a perfect example. God told Moses, "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt" (Exodus 3:10). God even went so far as to say, "...certainly I will be with thee" (Exodus 3:12). What more could a person ask for?? You would have thought that would have been good enough for Moses, but NOOOO! In Exodus 4:10, Moses starts in with his excuses - "And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue;" and the Lord shuts those excuses down in the next verse: "And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?" Moses' words were truly an expression of regret for failure to do something (aka - an excuse!)

We so often fail to realize that whenever the Lord tells us to do something, He has already equipped us with exactly what we need in order to get that job done. It's time we stand strong in faith! Stop trying to pass the buck. You know, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are really better off than we think; we just need to look through the lens of gratitude and be very thankful that the Lord chose to use us in natural things as well as spiritual things.

Let's remember to give the responses of Mary and Isaiah. When the Lord said, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah answered, "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8). When the Angel said to Mary, "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS;" Mary replied, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:31 and 38). Friends, let's leave our excuses by the wayside and walk in faith!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!