Ephesians 3:7-10
This is my life work: helping people
understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a
real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting
the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the
least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I
was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my
natural abilities.
And so here I am, preaching and writing about
things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and
generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain
what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in
secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like
yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is
becoming known and talked about even among the angels!
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
This morning, I began a
7-week Bible study at my church. The “facilitator” for this study is my
cousin, Natalie. Let me tell you, these Bible studies are well
attended…and my “facilitating cousin” is a large part of the reason.
Natalie begins her Bible studies by telling us how she fought God on
this for many years…how He kept nudging her to “lead” a Bible study, and
she kept saying, “I’m not qualified.” Then she said the notion of
being a “facilitator” came along, which she interpreted to mean that she
would turn on the DVD player for the opening video, and ask the
questions in the study guide…and she said, “I can do this!”
Let
me assure you, Natalie does far more than operate the DVD player and ask
questions! God uses her in an amazing way, and as we like to say in my
family, “A good time is had by all.” We also learn and grow in God’s
word and in the fellowship of Christian women.
My cousin is
incredibly capable. She has a Master’s Degree in education…she is an
18-year veteran of the public school classroom (kindergarten, no less!),
the mother of two beautiful children…a wife, daughter, friend and
servant in ways that I cannot count. And she has a knack for engaging
people. To even suggest that God might not be able to use her seems
ludicrous to those who know and love her.
Natalie will tell you
that she grew up “in the Bible”…that she was “practically born on the
third pew on the left” in the sanctuary of our church. She will also
tell you that she didn’t really KNOW the Bible until she started
attending Bible studies some twelve years ago…and then her knowledge
grew as she helped her own children with their own Bible drills.
Natalie states all of this to qualify that she felt terribly inadequate
to lead Bible studies…and yet God clearly showed her that this was one
of her “callings.” So she answered His call.
What is God calling
you to do? Where is He showing you a need that only you can fill –
even though you feel incredibly unqualified to do so? When will we
learn that with God, all things are possible…that HE makes the
difference in these situations and fills in the gaps? I’m not saying
that we are all called to facilitate Bible studies…because that is most
certainly not the case! But God can use you somewhere…in ways you
probably never imagined. And whatever He calls you to do, He will equip
you to handle!
God has a plan and a purpose for your life…and He
is working out each and every detail. Are you paying attention? Are
you ready to answer His call? Will this be the week that you do?
©2015 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment