Most first-generation Americans will joke and say that we were personal assistants, interpreters, and tech analysts before we could even drive. My immigrant parents often relied on my brother and me to help due to the language barrier, especially with customer service issues. So we would gather at the dining room table to make calls and send emails as a family.

One time there was a cell phone bill that came in the mail with some extra charges and my dad couldn’t get in touch with anyone over the phone. He was busy with work that week and since I was eighteen and could drive, my dad suggested that my brother and I go and talk to our service provider’s representatives at the mall. I was immediately afraid and declined his request. But he quickly reminded me that I use the cell phone the most in our family and he was content with canceling the service altogether. So I agreed to this plan, but I had a lot of hesitations.

“We are just kids, they won’t listen to us . . . and I don’t like math or know enough about all the financial stuff!” I gave him excuse after excuse to make him understand that this plan would fail.

He looked at me grinning and shook his head slowly, “Simi, they don’t know you, but they know me. Just tell them my name. I signed a contract and have an account in my name!”

In a final attempt to change his mind, I pleaded, “But what if they don’t listen to us?”

My dad replied, “Then you tell them: My dad is coming!”

It was like an epic moment from a Bollywood movie, but then my brother and I ruined it by laughing at my dad for being so dramatic.

It makes me think of Moses.

Moses stood before a burning bush with excuse after excuse not to go to Pharaoh and make the big ask, “Let my people go!” He didn’t feel ready or adequate. He didn’t necessarily feel like that was his role to play. God listened to all of his excuses, and like my dad, He told Moses to go anyway.

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3: 13-14 NIV

This was God’s way of reminding Moses:

You are not going on your authority but Mine. You are not going as a mere man, you are going as My representative and My mouthpiece. Your credentials won’t get you into the door but My power will let them know I am with you.

Often when God calls us to something big we feel too small to carry it out. We shy away from opportunities, conversations, and tables where God invites us to go because we don’t feel equipped. But if He calls you, you are not going in your own strength, wisdom, or authority. You are going in His name and He is with you.

I laughed at my dad that day because to me he was just my dad, familiar in every way, and I didn’t understand his authority to speak to the phone company. I think as children of God, we fall prey to this trap too. We are so familiar with God that we forget His authority.

When God told Moses to go in My power and in My name, Moses didn’t fully grasp it, much like us. He was hesitant. But God showed Moses His authority is sufficient. (Read the whole wild account in Exodus 3-14 for an undeniable picture of God’s power.)

We may not understand it fully, but demons tremble at His name, seas part at His name, giants fall at His name, and the dead are made alive in His name.

Today you may be hesitant but friend, recognize that God’s power is enough to see you through. Speak His name. Say it louder. You may feel small, but your God is big and He is with you.

Listen to Simi’s devotion below or wherever you stream podcasts!

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