A familiar Old Testament passage tells of Moses’ experience at the Burning Bush. There, the Lord commissioned him to give what might have been the biggest or even the first speech of his life: go to Egypt and get an audience with the Pharaoh. Tell him Yahweh God commands him to free the Israelites to leave the country and settle in another land. That was a tall order! Moses responded with the familiar “Why me?” question. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
God wasn’t sending Moses empty handed. He gave him supernatural power to convince the Pharaoh: the ability to turn a staff into a snake, to turn a healthy arm into a leprous one, and to turn water into blood. And even more, God promised to be with him. Despite these assurances, Moses had one major misgiving given in Exodus 4:10. Here it is presented in the King James Version (KJV):
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.
The Message translation is even more direct:
“Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words,
neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”
Moses not only did not want to speak in public, he likely had a speech impediment; and he may well have had “glossophobia” or speech anxiety. This is not the usual butterflies-in-the-stomach jitters when we get up in front of a group. It can be a crippling fear of public speaking or even of speaking at all that affects the speaker physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Moses did overcome his fear of public speaking and he also had his eloquent brother Aaron to help him. Some of the most memorable passages in the Old Testament are of Moses speaking to the Pharaoh and to his fellow Israelites.
It helps to know that we are not alone if we have a fear of public speaking. Even more so, it helps to know that God understands this fear, and says to us as he did to Moses: “I will be with you” (Ex 3:12). We are never out there on a platform alone when we are in His presence.
Reflect on the above devotional for this week.
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