Daily Devotional

Simone Biles had been a decorated gymnast for nearly her whole life, leading up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. I still remember hearing the shocking news that she was pulling out of the team and all-around competitions at the Olympics. At the time, I couldn’t understand why such a decorated athlete would walk away from arguably the world’s largest competition stage. What I’ve since discovered is that she had a case of the “twisties” which prevented her from competing. She essentially lost her sense of air awareness. There was a disconnect between what her brain was experiencing and the muscle memory of what her body was doing. This can be dangerous to an athlete to suddenly lose awareness mid-air during competition, but it can also be devasting to one’s confidence. Even though her muscle memory knew what to do, her brain was telling her something completely different, making her doubt herself.

We may not personally know the intensity of getting the “twisties” at a moment like that, but in our own ways, we all can feel like Simone. Most of us have been derailed by unexpected or undesired self-doubt at some point, and that’s not fun. I personally have had experiences where my doubt has gone beyond how I see myself. But I can’t be the only one, can I? Maybe you’ve thought, “Because of who I am, others see me as unqualified too.” Maybe you’ve felt useless. Or maybe you think questions, insecurities, doubts, mistakes, or something that has happened in your life has sidelined you forever. If you’ve ever felt like that, you’re in good company because that’s exactly how Moses felt, yet God used him in some truly extraordinary ways.

At the time God called to Moses, Moses was a murderer, fugitive, and dare I say a bit of a coward. Moses tried to convince God that he wasn’t the man for the job. He told God he wasn’t smart enough. He wasn’t persuasive enough. He just couldn’t do it. But when Moses protested, God promised. God assured Moses when he doubted himself, that He would be with Moses every step of the way. We see Moses doubt his own skills and talents, but that didn’t disqualify him from being used by God, and we see God’s desire to use Moses and God’s ability to work despite Moses’ deficiencies. This is one of the reasons why I love the God we serve!!! Being used by God does not require an entrance exam, a driver’s license, a resume, or a high GPA. God only asks us to say yes to the call and He promises to be with us every step of the way!

And notice that God doesn’t say, “Before I use you, I need your doubts about me to be gone.” God says, “I want to use you. I have your back no matter what. Will you take the first step?” God knows our feelings about ourselves. He knows our feelings about Him. Our doubts, insecurities, failures. Yet, He longs for us to say yes even if we’re in the middle of doubt, failure, or hurt because those things don’t change the fact that God wants to use us to do amazing things! And just like God promised Moses, we can trust Jesus’ presence will always be with us. Trusting in the presence of Jesus in our lives is a powerful way to push past our mistakes, failures, sins, and doubts. He invites us to see that when we doubt ourselves, He can still use us.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation