An excuse is an attempt to be forgiven and release oneself from any obligation or responsibility by circumstances. We live in a culture that I have termed as a chronic excuse syndrome society. We are to easily given over to breaking any commitments and responsibilities that we may have.

The excuses such as, “I forgot” and “That’s the way we have always done it” or even “I just don’t feel like it” have become commonplace in our lives. Oh and let us not forget this one, “that’s not my job”. The long list of excuses that we have allowed to slowly decay our society has also begun to seep into our Christian journey.

God knows our imperfections and still chooses to use us. (Tweet)

Years ago the Kingsmen Quartet sang a song called “Excuses”. The opening line went something like this “Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day. And the Devil he’ll supply them, if the church you stay away…” As comical as it may sound, the truth should shake us awake.

George Washington Carver said, “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” Carver was no stranger to adversity and could have easily made excuses throughout his life. But against all odds he overcame his environment. Despite being born into slavery, he worked hard developing hundreds of products made from crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. This he did under the oppression of segregation, yet he never used it as an excuse to abandon his passion.

Carver is mostly known for his scientific contributions, but is also recognized as a devoted Christian who boldly declared that the God of the universe was his source of inspiration. Therefore, he refused to allow any excuse to hinder him from a God given purpose.

To often we allow Excuses to stop us from achieving our destiny in God (Tweet)

To often as Christians we allow excuses to stop us from achieving our destiny in God. Moses who tried to accomplish God’s purpose by himself ended up in a desolate desert. Yet, God still had a plan for him.

We read the dialogue in Ex. 3:10-11 of God’s calling of Moses, as well as his reply. Moses responds with his first excuse saying, “who am I that I should go…”. He saw himself as a failure and a “has been” which he thought justified himself in giving an excuse. Again in the following chapter we read two more excuses that Moses gave to God. Out of a rejection complex he told God, “What if they don’t believe me” and then finally “I am slow of speech and tongue”. Moses looked at himself through the eyes of insecurities and therefore felt that he wasn’t a good speaker.

The scriptures reveal that God has a plan and a purpose for us. But just like Moses, we begin to offer up excuses for not fulfilling God’s plan, which can limit or even abort the plan of God for our lives. God wants us to whole heartily trust Him and not let insecurities, hurts of rejection or even fear of failure cause us to be disobedient to His plan. A person’s excuses come from looking to their own lack of abilities and not looking to God’s omnipotence. When Moses continued making excuses even when God reprimanded him as his creator, we read that the Lord’s anger was kindled.

Our excuses to not obeying His purposes are nothing short of a lack of faith in God. Let us respond in faith and not be quick to find an excuse.