{"id":9483,"date":"2026-08-21T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/?p=9483"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:15:23","slug":"moses-overcame-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/biblical-living\/comfort\/moses-overcame-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"How Moses Overcame His Anxiety \u2014 and You Can Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If the thought of public speaking makes you weak in the knees, you are far from alone. It\u2019s regularly rated as one of Americans\u2019 top fears, and it\u2019s where one of the Bible\u2019s bravest men started out. Moses, a hero of the faith who was the conduit for the earliest foundations of Scripture \u2014 a man who boldly stood up to the most powerful man on the planet \u2014 started out as an anxious, hesitant defeatist who wanted nothing to do with the task God had assigned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, Moses had been uniquely equipped to lead the Hebrew people. His mother spared his life by setting him adrift in the Nile River in a basket at a time when all male Hebrew babies were given a death sentence by Pharaoh. Instead, it was Pharaoh\u2019s own daughter who discovered baby Moses and eventually decided to raise him in the palace. There he was equipped with all the knowledge he needed to succeed in the highest echelons of Egyptian society \u2014 education, royal traditions, and political savvy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But none of that could save his life when Moses killed an Egyptian he saw abusing a Hebrew slave. Moses would spend decades running from his murderous sin, with a death sentence hanging over his own head. Long before the Israelites spent 40 years lost and wandering, Moses would have his own period of isolation and drifting. He worked quietly and faithfully as a shepherd. That seemingly unrelated detour was preparing him for a life spent leading a different kind of flock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moses Was Blinded by Anxiety<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When God showed up in a burning bush to call him into service, Moses did not jump into action. The Lord didn\u2019t ask \u2014 He told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.\u201d
\u2014 Exodus 3:10<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last time we saw anything about a pharaoh and Moses, it was because Egypt\u2019s top leader wanted to kill him. And though the pharaoh God was calling Moses to confront was not the same man, Moses had to wonder whether the story of what he\u2019d done still lingered in Egyptian folklore. Moses\u2019 reply to the LORD makes perfect sense by our human standards \u2014 at least by mine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut Moses said to God, \u2018Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?\u2019\u201d
\u2014 Exodus 3:11<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the same question I would have asked. LORD, are you kidding me? I\u2019m a shepherd, gone from that life for decades. And my life may be over if I go back!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/sup><\/strong>And God said, \u2018I will be with you\u2026\u2019\u201d
\u2014 Exodus 3:12<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moses was ready with his list of excuses as to why he couldn\u2019t possibly do what God was asking. He was anxious and apprehensive, feeling ill-equipped to step up to the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Banner<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moses\u2019 timid human heart didn\u2019t seem to believe God could achieve the unthinkable \u2014 especially through him. He was understandably worried, but it wasn\u2019t just about confronting Pharaoh. It was also about what he believed was his inability to articulate his calling to the very people he was supposed to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moses said to God, \u201cSuppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, \u2018The God of your fathers has sent me to you,\u2019 and they ask me, \u2018What is his name?\u2019 Then what shall I tell them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God said to Moses, \u201cI am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: \u2018I am has sent me to you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God also said to Moses, \u201cSay to the Israelites, \u2018The Lord, the God of your fathers\u2014the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob\u2014has sent me to you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is my name\u00a0forever,
\u00a0\u00a0the name you shall call me
\u00a0\u00a0from generation to generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Exodus 3:13\u201315<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I AM<\/em>. Period. God instructed Moses to gather the elders of Israel and tell them who\u2019d sent him. \u201cThey will listen to what you say,\u201d God promised. (Exodus 3:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God Reassured and Equipped His Servant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What if they don\u2019t believe you sent me?<\/em> God had Moses drop his staff and it turned into a snake, then back into a staff when Moses picked it up. Then he had Moses put his hand into his cloak, only to pull it out covered in disease. Another tuck back into the cloak and it was healed. If those two miracles didn\u2019t work, God told Moses to throw water from the Nile (the river where he was sentenced to death) onto the flood and watch it turn to blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moses said to the Lord, \u201cPardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord said to him, \u201cWho gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Moses said, \u201cPardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Exodus 4:10\u201313<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever argued with God? Have you ever told Him He\u2019s wrong about you? How our distrust and frail hearts must sometimes frustrate Him, but He never gives up on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God agreed to bring Moses\u2019 brother Aaron onto the team. Moses was instructed to give Aaron the words to say, and the LORD would speak through them. Moses went to get Jethro\u2019s blessing to go after his people and eventually met up with Aaron. Together they gathered the elders and did as God had said, telling them what the LORD had said and performing the signs he\u2019d enabled them to do. The elders were so grateful God had considered their suffering that they bowed down and worshipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What came next was a miraculous series of increasingly brutal plagues from the hand of God Himself. Moses grew in spiritual maturity and bravery, repeatedly confronting Pharaoh until his grip on the millions of Hebrew slaves powering Egypt was loosened and they were finally released to go free \u2026 until they weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just when the freed Hebrew people began to breathe a sigh of relief, Pharaoh changed his mind. Despite the absolute devastation of the plagues, the disappearance of more than a million members of his work force was a jolt to Pharaoh and the Egyptian economy. As the Israelites camped by the Red Sea, Pharaoh and his army showed up in force. Gripped with fear they unleashed their complaints on Moses. Why did you bring us out here to die? Why didn\u2019t you just let us stay and serve the Egyptians?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moses Matured From Anxious to Authoritative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s at this point that we see the full transformation of Moses. Once consumed by self-doubt and terror, he boldly stood and spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoses answered the people, \u2018Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.\u2019\u201d
\u2014 Exodus 14:13\u201314<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man who tried to talk God out of using him refused to cower before a swarm of chariots and soldiers headed right at him. And the mini-sermon he gave is the very formula we can apply to our 2026 anxieties too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n