Not trained, but equipped

So far on the World Race, I have had to do a bunch of things for which I have no official training and very little experience.

I feel like a complete fool most of the time. 

I take comfort in the Truth of Scriptures, which introduce me to countless characters who felt the same way I do. Look at the kinds of people God called to do his work:

* Moses was not an eloquent speaker, yet he was called to lead a nation out of Pharaoh’s hand (Exodus 4:10-11)

* David was just a young shepherd boy when God anointed him to be future king (1 Samuel 16)

* Mary was also just a young girl when the Holy Spirit approached her to conceive Jesus (Luke 1:38)

* God chose to reveal the birth of Jesus to shepherds who were in a field nearby (Luke 2:8-11)

* Many of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen (Matthew 4:18-22)

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

It is when I am humbled that I am actually ready to be used by God, filled by His Holy Spirit. In my weakness, God shows Himself to be strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). God does not need my cooperation to accomplish His purpose, but He graciously invites me to join Him in His work. He uses me as His hands and feet on this earth. He does this because He loves me, and so that I can grow to reflect Jesus, which is His ultimate purpose.

If I could accomplish a task without God, then I would get the glory (which would lead to puffing up my pride). But if something is impossible for me to do in my own strength, then God gets the glory. 

On my team, we tease our ministry contacts about how God didn’t send in “the experts” – He sent us. And while we may not be experts in terms of training or experience, we are certainly qualified to do His work because of the blood of Jesus.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  (Ephesians 1:3)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)  

I am available. And that is all God asks of me. He will do the work through me – often in spite of me.