God calls people not because they are capable but because He is...
Sometimes God calls people to tasks beyond their capabilities. Actually, most of the time He does. He asked a man who had never seen rain to build an ark. He asked another with a speech impediment to speak to Pharaoh to free the Israelites only then to lead them around the desert for 40 years. He asked a shepherd boy to slay a giant and become a king, and He asked a prostitute to help His people win a battle. He asked a widow to move to a new, foreign land and pursue a man who would work her into the royal lineage, and He asked an ordinary Jewish girl to become a queen and save all of the Jews. He asked a teenage mother to give birth to the Messiah. A group of 12 unruly, unsuspecting men to begin the spread of the gospel and the modern day church. And he asked a murderer to carry the gospel to the ends of the world and become the greatest missionary of all time. Throughout history, God has asked people to do big things. Things bigger than themselves. Things that seemed terrifying and impossible. Not because any of these people were capable but because God was. God is.
I shared about my newest challenge a few weeks ago. For quite some time, God has been prompting my heart to begin writing a book. The truth is, I didn't feel capable of the task. I didn't go to college to learn the art of writing. I didn't study the English language. I took two English classes in college and I disliked them both. The only things I really remember about English are all of the Shirley Grammar Rhymes I learned in middle school. I never enjoyed reading. Given the option, I would have rather watched TV. I never wrote. I never even had the thought, desire, or inkling to sit down and write. I liked numbers, and I went to school for numbers. I learned numbers, I studied numbers all the while developing a love/hate relationship with the one thing I thought I would do for the rest of my life.
The Lord often speaks to me through others, and countless times people said, "You need to write a book." It even got to the point where a few people sent me information for different editors. I kept thinking, "This is really nice of you, but I'm not good enough to do this. This is definitely beyond any skill I possess." Yet God didn't stop dropping hints right and left, and I finally realized that I could continue to allow my perceived lack of "skill" keep me from ever moving forward to the thing God was clearly laying on my heart, or I could just submit to His will and ask for His help. I could lean on Him and trust His plan, and I could step out in faith like so many people have done for millions of years when God asked them to do the seemingly impossible.
And so I said yes. You know this. But I didn't know what I was saying yes to. I just said yes and then said, "Okay God, so now what am I supposed to do?" Because I had, I have, no idea what to do next. I continued to pray and pray, and as I was having coffee with one of my sweet girls on a Sunday night, she said, "Why don't you write a fictional book?" Well, to me, she could have just said, "Why don't you create a new language?" That's exactly how I felt about considering the idea of a fictional book. I told her I'd love to do that, but that just seemed too difficult for me.
God began bringing back a memory. Over and over again, He brought back a vivid memory that was well on its way to becoming forgotten in the corners of my mind. For days, this memory kept coming back, and I wondered why, of all things, this particular thing kept popping into my head. Clearly, I don't catch on as quickly as I'd like to think I do, and I realized this was where I was supposed to begin. This was the starting point I had been praying for, and a story was birthed. A story in the making, that is.
I never thought I'd write anything. I never thought God would call me to a task like this, and I don't quite know how He'll use it. But I am certain that God never asks us to do things that will be wasted. He has a plan, even if it seems impossible and a little terrifying at moments. God doesn't call anyone because they are equipped or capable. He calls them so that through their weakness, His strength is made perfect. So that their good deeds point others to Him. Because the goal is salvation. For all people. Anyone who chooses to believe - to accept - to follow. And when we allow God to work through us, when we press in and trust Him, we find that He will lead us every step of the way. He isn't going to abandon us on our own to figure this crazy thing called life out on our own. He is the Good Shepherd, and when we follow Him, He will lead us by the still waters, to the green pastures, where our cup will overflow.
"Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you." - Psalm 143:8
I shared about my newest challenge a few weeks ago. For quite some time, God has been prompting my heart to begin writing a book. The truth is, I didn't feel capable of the task. I didn't go to college to learn the art of writing. I didn't study the English language. I took two English classes in college and I disliked them both. The only things I really remember about English are all of the Shirley Grammar Rhymes I learned in middle school. I never enjoyed reading. Given the option, I would have rather watched TV. I never wrote. I never even had the thought, desire, or inkling to sit down and write. I liked numbers, and I went to school for numbers. I learned numbers, I studied numbers all the while developing a love/hate relationship with the one thing I thought I would do for the rest of my life.
The Lord often speaks to me through others, and countless times people said, "You need to write a book." It even got to the point where a few people sent me information for different editors. I kept thinking, "This is really nice of you, but I'm not good enough to do this. This is definitely beyond any skill I possess." Yet God didn't stop dropping hints right and left, and I finally realized that I could continue to allow my perceived lack of "skill" keep me from ever moving forward to the thing God was clearly laying on my heart, or I could just submit to His will and ask for His help. I could lean on Him and trust His plan, and I could step out in faith like so many people have done for millions of years when God asked them to do the seemingly impossible.
And so I said yes. You know this. But I didn't know what I was saying yes to. I just said yes and then said, "Okay God, so now what am I supposed to do?" Because I had, I have, no idea what to do next. I continued to pray and pray, and as I was having coffee with one of my sweet girls on a Sunday night, she said, "Why don't you write a fictional book?" Well, to me, she could have just said, "Why don't you create a new language?" That's exactly how I felt about considering the idea of a fictional book. I told her I'd love to do that, but that just seemed too difficult for me.
God began bringing back a memory. Over and over again, He brought back a vivid memory that was well on its way to becoming forgotten in the corners of my mind. For days, this memory kept coming back, and I wondered why, of all things, this particular thing kept popping into my head. Clearly, I don't catch on as quickly as I'd like to think I do, and I realized this was where I was supposed to begin. This was the starting point I had been praying for, and a story was birthed. A story in the making, that is.
I never thought I'd write anything. I never thought God would call me to a task like this, and I don't quite know how He'll use it. But I am certain that God never asks us to do things that will be wasted. He has a plan, even if it seems impossible and a little terrifying at moments. God doesn't call anyone because they are equipped or capable. He calls them so that through their weakness, His strength is made perfect. So that their good deeds point others to Him. Because the goal is salvation. For all people. Anyone who chooses to believe - to accept - to follow. And when we allow God to work through us, when we press in and trust Him, we find that He will lead us every step of the way. He isn't going to abandon us on our own to figure this crazy thing called life out on our own. He is the Good Shepherd, and when we follow Him, He will lead us by the still waters, to the green pastures, where our cup will overflow.
"Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you." - Psalm 143:8
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