Daily Devotions
Friday, October 17, 2025
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
Numbers 11:29 – But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!”
Superheroes. Which ones were your favorites growing up? Batman, Spider Man, Wonder Woman, Superman? What attracts us to superheroes? Their godlike powers? Their seemingly victorious lives? In his commencement address to the 2023 University of Southern California’s graduates, Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and a USC alumnus himself, reminded a captive audience of newly minted graduates that even heroes are flawed characters who can fail. He said something like, sure, their godlike powers might make them “super,” but what makes them “heroes” is everything else, their doubts and setbacks, which they struggle through while moving forward with courage.
Moses is considered a sort of superhero in the Old Testament, a hero of the faith. There is no prophet like him, and yet he is a flawed character in need of help. Although God has chosen Moses to lead Israel and put His Spirit on him to proclaim His Word to His people, the great and revered prophet often has doubts about his ability to lead Israel and even complains to God about his work among such people.
Do you feel like a superhero, a hero of the faith? Hardly. For we too, like Moses, are flawed characters. We too struggle with hardships, doubts, and disappointments. We too struggle with failures in life.
What makes Moses a hero of the faith are not his own accomplishments or powers. What makes him a hero is his recognition of his profound need for God’s help in his life and ministry. His faith does not point him to himself for strength but to God’s promise of His Spirit. Moses knows he cannot go through life or fulfill his vocation without God’s Spirit. And Moses goes even further. He also acknowledges that he cannot fulfill the work God has given him alone. Moses needs the assistance of others upon whom God has also put His Spirit to come to his aid and support him in his ministry.
In North America, we tend to approach life in a very individualistic way: “I think I can face life alone. I do not need people to help me. I can accomplish things on my own. I can deal with my own struggles and move forward with courage on my own.” But this is not how life works in God’s kingdom.
When Moses cries out to God for help in the difficult task of leading and speaking to His complaining and rebellious people, God puts the same Spirit He had put on Moses on 70 elders so that they could come alongside Moses and help him lead the rowdy bunch. When the 70 elders completed their work, two other Spirit-filled men at camp kept prophesying, and this led Joshua to advise Moses to make them stop. Instead, Moses welcomed their help! He said, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!” The more, the merrier.
Through Baptism into Christ, God has promised to give the Holy Spirit and various gifts not just to some but to all His people, to each one of us, so that we can help each other in our struggles, when we doubt God’s promises, and amid life disappointments. We cannot go at life alone. And we don’t have to. God has given us His Spirit to comfort each other with the Gospel, with good news, with words of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to dwell and remain in us, so that when life gets difficult we can remind each other of Jesus’ words of life and salvation. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez.
Reflection Questions:
- Have your superhero favorites changed from when you were a child? If so, why, do you think?
- What were some of Moses’ failings in his dealings with God and the people of Israel? In the end, what made Moses successful in his service to God?
- What has God given us to empower us when we have a hard time going on?
Today's Readings:
2 Chronicles 35Habakkuk 1-3
Acts 25