Before we talk about our big “BUT’s” today, let me first ask you if you want a peaceful life in the midst of turbulence? The Bible said that, “Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:2 NLT) If we pray for those in authority, especially those in spiritual authority, we were promised to have a peaceful life. So it’s a directive for us to pray for our pastors every day. If each of us spends at least a minute every day to pray for our pastors, there would already be thousands of minutes of prayers going up to Heaven. God is going to bless our leaders and us with a peaceful life. And we do this not to glorify men, but to glorify God who is in the men.

Today, we will be talking about our big “BUT’s” that are distracting us from doing what God wants us to do. Those “BUT’s” are basically all excuses. We all make excuses in life. Are you familiar with hearing people saying “But I don’t have time”, “But I am not good enough”, “But I am busy”, “But the alarm clock didn’t go off”, “But the dog ate my homework!” We say all different kinds of “BUT’s” to avoid our responsibilities. The more BUT’s we say, the more normal it becomes for us to make excuses. We can witness this happening in Biblical times, too. God asked Adam why he took the forbidden fruit after Adam and Eve had eaten it, and Adam blamed it on Eve instead of owning up to his mistake! However, making excuses should never be normal for the people of God. Today, we should get off our “BUT’s” as they only hold us back from doing great things and receiving miracles! Even Benjamin Franklin, one of our Founding Fathers, said that “he that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

In the Bible, a man asked Jesus about the banquet in Heaven. According to the scripture, “Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’” (Luke 14:16-20 NLT) You can notice that all those responses that started with “I” were all excuses. The first man had the excuse of buying land that he hadn’t even seen. The second man had the excuse of buying oxen that hadn’t been tested out. The third man even had the excuses of having a wife and not being able to go. The third man actually could have brought the wife with him to attend the banquet if he had realized how great this banquet was! It’s just like us nowadays, that we have all kinds of excuses to say that we are too busy to receive Jesus’ salvation, or too busy for Jesus.  In other words, we are so consumed with what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. Thus, we make all kinds of excuses to avoid doing what God wants us to do. We also often make excuses because we don’t want to own up to our mistakes and duties!


We will be studying the scriptures about how Moses responded to God when God first called him. Moses was a prophet and a Biblical icon. The Lord used him to deliver a great ministry and spoke face to face with him. Moses was a powerful servant of God, yet he had his moments of making excuses at the beginning when God called him, too. It was written, “But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The LORD never appeared to you’?” Then the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. “Throw it down on the ground,” the LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.” (Exodus 4:1-3 NLT) Moses was feeling insecure, having doubt and starting to make excuses. He was more concerned about what people would think and say than what God was telling him to do. Instead of addressing Moses’ concerns directly, God asked what he had in his hand and made it a tool to perform miracles. God made something that Moses already had, a staff, as a tool of the Lord, even though this staff was just a simple rod in human eyes. So when God asks you to do something, He actually has placed talent or tools in your hands so that you can accomplish what He calls you to do. There shouldn’t be any more excuses as God wouldn’t ask you to do something without giving you the means and capabilities. We just need to get the most out of what God already places in our hands instead of giving any excuses.

However, Moses excuses hadn’t come to an end, yet. He still made one excuse after another. It was written, “But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”” (Exodus 4:10 NLT) We all know that God knows everything and He doesn’t make mistakes. So when God asked Moses to speak to the Israelites, God was not making any mistakes even though Moses wasn’t eloquent. In fact, God already knew that Moses wasn’t eloquent before Moses was born! Nevertheless, God still used him because He was able to make Moses capable regardless of his short coming. Moses was focusing on his inability instead of God’s ability to work through him. Our short comings can never hinder us from becoming what God wants us to be. In other words, he who makes excuses actually curses and accuses himself. And the one who follows God’s calling is blessed instead - regardless of any short comings, as God’s blessing and provision will perfect you in the areas that you weren’t good at.

After two excuses that Moses had made, he once again made a third one. The scripture said, “But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” Then the LORD became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.” (Exodus 4:13-14 NLT) This time Moses even tried to transfer his responsibilities to someone else after God had given him a staff and ability to speak. But God didn’t just give up on him after all the excuses he had made. God still continued to provide him Aaron as his help. Can we all relate to this? We often make excuses like Moses did but God never gives up on us. Aren’t you glad that God never gives up on you? We can see that when God calls you to do something, there is no way to dodge it. God is not going to transfer your responsibilities to someone else even after all the excuses you can think of. God is going to help you to be successful in your calling instead. He sends in help even before you start making excuses. So why do we still make excuses then as there is no way to dodge our responsibilities? Why don’t we get off our “BUT’s” and step up to accept God’s calling right away? When we finally take complete responsibility for ourselves without making any excuses, it would be the day when we start our lives from the top and be successful in Him. There is a well know professional athlete called Deion Sanders. He is a former National Football League cornerback and Major League Baseball outfielder. He was known as “Prime Time”. He was the only professional athlete who ever hit a major league home run and scored a touchdown in the NFL in the same week in 1989. He is a Christian and also a minister now. He said his secret of success was to get rid of excuses. He actually grew up in a tough neighborhood and could have made up a lot of excuses to avoid any responsibilities. But he realized that he had to get rid of the habit of making excuses and that is his secret of success. In the neighborhood he grew up in, people make a lot of excuses and would say things like “If I had gone to College, I would have graduated from College”. And Deion recognized that this kind of mentality only produces excuses and hinders us from actually accomplishing great things! So he got rid of saying “If I had…” and actually did what he had to do, so that he could succeed.


I was at my lowest before I turned my life to the Lord. I was drug dealing in Kalihi. I made up excuses that I was a victim of the neighborhood because people in the area did all kinds of illegal activities, too. One night, I was sitting in my backyard with a bottle of white tequila and a hand gun on my lap. I was thinking that it would be either me or my enemy dying that night. In the end, it turned out that I didn’t end up dying, but knowing God instead. I am very grateful that God didn’t give up on me. I received Jesus and gave my life to Him afterwards. I turned my life around and started reading His words. Later on, God called me to serve Him and asked me to start small, but I was having a lot of “BUT’s” especially because of my illegal past. I told God to ask someone else to serve Him as I felt that I wasn’t worthy. I felt that I wasn’t qualified because of my past and my short comings. However, God taught me that it’s Him instead of my past qualifying me. If you ever feel that you are unworthy or not qualified for doing God’s work, you are actually in a perfect position to be used by Him. Jesus called on the uneducated fishermen instead of the highly educated church attendants when He did his ministry on earth. God is going to ask us to stop doing this and start doing that, and He will qualify us to succeed in His calling. God always qualifies those He chooses instead of choosing those that are “qualified”.  So let’s stop making excuses and accept God’s calling right away!


Let’s recapture what we have learned today. You need to start praying for your pastors every day. This is a directive from God and you cannot make excuses to deny this responsibility. Second, when God calls you, you have to get off your “BUT’s” and stop making excuses. You should focus on what God asks you to do instead of what other people think of you. You should focus on God’s ability to work through you instead of your short comings in your eyes. And God already sends in the help before you start having any “BUT’s”. Therefore, it’s time to shrink your “BUT’s” and act on what God asks you to do. Amen.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why are we having so many “BUT’s” in our lives?

2. What is the directive that we need to do for our leaders?

3. What can we focus on so that we can get off our “BUT’s”?

4. What qualifies you to do God’s work?

5. What consequences do we have if we don’t get off our “BUT’s”?