When you ask someone who their hero is, you’ll probably get answers like Superman, Michael Jackson, Hank Aaron or Brad Pitt. What do all of these people have in common? They’re all rich, famous, and powerful. My hero started out like them, having everything he could possibly want, but gave it away for something much greater. My hero was born a long time ago, in 1525 B.C.E, in Egypt. He had two siblings, an older sister named Miriam and an older brother named Aaron. At the time he was born, the Pharaoh of Egypt ordered that all Hebrew boys under the age of two were to be killed. When he was born, his mother wove him a basket of reeds and placed him inside it. She then took the basket with the baby in it to the Nile river and set it adrift. Miriam watched the basket until it reached the place where the daughter of the Pharaoh was bathing. Pharaoh’s daughter spotted the basket, and discovered the baby inside. Miriam came forward and asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for her. She said yes, and Miriam brought the baby’s mother to the palace to care for him. Pharaoh’s daughter named the boy Moses, and he grew up as her son and the younger brother of the future Pharaoh. Around this time, the Egyptians were enslaving the Hebrews and forcing them to work. When Moses had reached adulthood, he saw an Egyptian soldier beating a Hebrew slave. Outraged, Moses killed the soldier and buried the body in the sand. When he discovered that Pharaoh knew what he had done, and was likely going to put him to death for it, he ran. He reached the land of Midian, and lived there for forty years as a shepherd. One day while Moses was tending his flocks, he saw a burning bush. He noticed that the bush was not being consumed by the fire, and when he went to look more closely, God spoke to him. God told Moses to go to Egypt, and tell Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from slavery. Moses responded:

“Pardon 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.”
Moses was afraid. He probably had a stutter, and really didn’t like to talk in front of people. And here was God, telling him to go face Pharaoh and demand that he let the Hebrew people go free. He kept making excuses, saying that he couldn’t do it. God replied:

“Who 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? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Still, Moses refused, saying:

“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Finally, God got angry, and said:

“What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.”
If you know the rest of the story, you know that Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh ten times until he finally let the Hebrews go.
Moses is my hero because, like me, he had a fear of public speaking. But god used him anyway, and he did many incredible things. So Moses is my hero because his story reminds me that no one is ever hopeless, and the God uses the most unlikely people.