Has God called you to do something that you are afraid of? Be honest. There’s that thing that stays on your heart, that ministry that really stirs your spirit.
But.
“I would, but…”
The devil is good at putting a “but” at the end of our desires to serve in ministry. Not God.
If God has put something in your heart to do for Him, you better believe He will give you what it takes. And your obedience could make an eternal difference for the Kingdom. God puts a “but” at the beginning.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:45-5, ESV
It’s by grace we are saved, only because of our loving and merciful God. And it is by grace that we are empowered to serve Him.
His calling is always for His glory–it’s not about us; but the enemy will fill our heads with all kinds of doubts and fears.
- I don’t have the time.
- I don’t have the money.
- I don’t have the ability.
- I don’t have the courage.
- I don’t have the support.
That’s a lot of I don’t. But God does.
Sometimes we are afraid God will call us to leave everything and go serve in a foreign land. But here’s the thing. If He calls you to do that, He will move your heart in such a way, that you will be drawn to go.
I think most of us struggle more with just sharing the Gospel with a neighbor or opening our homes for a Bible study.
What if Moses, Esther, Gideon, Peter, or Paul had been too scared to follow after the call of God on their lives? How many others would have been lost?
When we get our focus off our failures and insecurities, we will recognize that God will make a way for His will to be done.
God calls us to faith, not fear.
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7, NIV
We have the power of God within us through the Holy Spirit. He is power, love, and self-discipline. By faith, we must submit to His authority and His way.
It’s not our time, money, ability, courage, or support God needs. He just needs our willingness. He needs our faithfulness. He needs our obedience. He will arm us and strengthen us to do the rest.
“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.”
Psalm 18:32-33
We don’t have to have the time, money, ability, courage, or support ourselves. Even if the people closest to us don’t support us, we can follow God anyway. If God calls us to something–even something big–He is the One who will give us what we need to carry it out. Our job is to follow Him.
When God called me out of the classroom to write books, I was terrified. I’m comfortable in a classroom with kids. It’s what I know. It’s what I was trained to do. But God called me out into the unknown and the uncomfortable.
It wasn’t easy and still isn’t, but there’s peace in going where God calls you to go. And there’s joy in watching Him do what only He could do.
God calls us to truth, not lies.
The enemy will fill our heads with lies about what God can do. We overcome the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s Word.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'”
Matthew 19:26
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
1 Corinthians 1:27
“My flesh and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26
You may have many excuses for why you can’t serve God in a particular way. Maybe you don’t feel qualified. Maybe you don’t feel good enough.
Someone once said, “God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” Let the examples in the Bible feed truth to your heart. God called many people whom the world would never have chosen: Moses, David, Gideon, Peter.
He is more than able to equip us and use us if we are willing to go.
God calls us to go.
We can come up with lots of excuses for not following through with what we feel God is calling us to do, but ultimately it’s a matter of faith and obedience.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'”
Mark 16:15
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last.”
John 15:16
Jesus told us to go. You have a command. You have a gift. You have a calling.
Will you believe God to use you? Will you pursue those things–even the scary things–that you feel God stirring your heart to do?
I know. I’m scared, too. But I’m more afraid of the consequences of not fulfilling His call to go. Lives are at stake.
So what is God calling you to do? What but stands in your way?
Change that but to a now:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20
Click here to read more in our series, Faith in Action.