“Alicia, would you
please stand? We have decided that you will lead the girls at the next boot
camp. Everyone please applaud Alicia”.
Alicia placed her
hands on the desk as she gradually stood for what felt like three hours to her.
Pupils of grade 3 Diamond class applauded and hollered in excitement as their
new leader was chosen.
Their applause and
voices seemed to come from a distant land as Alicia couldn’t hear anything other
than a group of people having some kind of meeting in her head. One voice said,
“I have freckles and I’m not fine enough to lead the girls. Another said, “I
don’t have a loud voice like Helen, they won’t listen to me”.
For what felt
really long, Alicia kept recalling the 101 reasons why she could never be the
girl for the job.
“Alicia, would you
please step forward to address the class?” said Miss Diane.
Alicia was lost in
her head monologue that she didn’t hear the teacher call. Everyone called at
her before she gained consciousness and slowly moved towards the front of the class.
Her legs could barely carry her.
“M..Mmm. Miss
Diane?” Alicia stuttered. “I I I can’t possibly be the one for this job ma. I don’t
have a loud voice and I’ve got freckles all over my face”. She added
The class busted in
roars of laughter. Miss Diane couldn’t hold back either.
“Looking lovingly
at Alicia, Miss Diane said, “The board didn’t choose you because we thought you
were qualified. We chose you because we qualify you to head the group.
Alicia stared at
the teacher, not quite sure of what she meant.
Miss Diane
understood by the look on Alicia’s face that the little girl didn’t make sense
out of her statement and so she went on to explain.
“Alicia, the fact
that the board has chosen you means we have qualified you to lead the girls and
we will equip you with all the necessary skills to enable you be the best you
can be at it. Trust me, your freckled face or gentle voice will be useful on
this job. I only need you to accept the call to lead”, said Miss Diane.
“Okay ma.” replied
Alicia still feeling somewhat unsure.
I can totally
relate with Alicia and the many inadequacies I feel or sense every time the
Lord asks me to do something for His people. Does this resonate with you?
I believe it’s a normal
human feeling to feel unqualified at first when God beckons on us. This is because
God ALWAYS chooses men for God-sized projects. A God-sized project requires God’s
intellect, God’s resources and everything God in between to be accomplished and
so the human mind can never truly feel game enough.
We see Moses in the
book of Exodus 4 cooking up all the reasons why he couldn’t or shouldn’t lead
Israel out of Egypt. Some of His reasons
which are so relatable to us today are
1. I’m
a nobody
Sounds
familiar?
Moses
had long left the house of pharaoh and had become a shepherd at Midian. He knew
the Egyptians had no regard or social respect for shepherds. In fact shepherds
were an abomination to the Egyptians (Genesis 46:34).
“It
would be better if you sent a powerful ruler, God. No not me”, said Moses.
Many
times we size ourselves up against the world’s standard of classy, “somebody”, influential
etc. we check our facebook or twitter followers and convince ourselves that we
need to first have 10 000 active followers before we can begin that blog, write
that book, host that event or do anything God has laid in our hearts.
You
know what God’s response to Moses was on this excuse? God said I WILL BE WITH YOU (Exodus 3:12). You don’t
need to be anything “big” or know all the”big” people to fulfill your calling.
God says I WILL BE WITH YOU and if
God be for you? You already know that the “big” people will be for you too; when
they are needed to help accomplish that project! (Romans 8:31)
REMEMBER:
God Will Be With You As You Walk In Your
Calling. Don’t feel less than others.
2. No
one will believe me
When
I first started Eagle’s Soar events ten years ago, I didn’t think anyone would
come. I shared the vision with a dear
friend and he stood by me and we held it successfully for months before I left
to attend the university in another state. We had good number of people turn
up, the best I can remember. But when the Lord told me to host that, I dint
think anyone would believe I had anything to offer. I was just some teenager
fresh out of high school at the time. Today, Eagle’s soar isn’t where
we started and has inspired several young people unto relevance.
You
don’t need to be sure if you can convince anyone. Just obey.
You
know what God said to Moses when he said “What if they won’t believe me or
listen to me? What if they say, ‘The
God told him to do
in open what He already done with Him in Secret – Turn a rod into a serpent,
his hand made diseased and instantly whole(Exodus 4:2-9)
You see honey, our
purpose or calling is not totally new or strange. It is often connected to an
aspect of God that He has revealed to us. For Moses, that aspect was the miraculous
side of God. What aspect has God revealed to you?
REMEMBER:
God does with you on the outside, what
He has done for you on the inside. Don’t be afraid to answer HIS call.
3. I
am flawed
(Rolling
my eyes)
Yeah
Right! Who isn’t please?
Moses
said, “O Lord, I’m not
very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have
spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
You probably tell
yourself you’ve got freckled face like Alicia for that you can’t minister to
Models, or that you’ve had a baby in high school and don’t qualify to serve in
the youth department, or that you had a divorce and can’t share your lessons at
the singles meeting because the world would say or not say.
You know what God
said when Moses talked about his flawed speech/tongue? God asked, “Who makes a
person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do
not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the
The key word there
is who decides?
REMEMBER:
It is God who decides if you’re
qualified; not your flaws, history, past or people’s opinion! Just answer the
call!
Read: The Rules of Self Esteem
4. I Just can’t be the one
Moses
said, Lord please send someone else. God became angry. God felt, come on now
Moses, am i not enough? You still need another person? And so God said okay,
you can go with Aaron (Exodus 4:13-16).
That was how Aaron got called too!
If
Moses had said “okay God, I don’t understand it, neither do I feel qualified
yet but I’m just going to go.” Don’t you think God would have perfected his
speech/tongue? I believe God would have.
Many
times callings get transferred because after all God has done to assure us that
He was on our side, we just kept saying, “No Lord, please send others”.
Moses
was lucky his wasn’t transferred though but his stammering tongue never got
healed.
Remember:
God saw everyone else but believes in
you. Accept the call.
5. I’m
afraid of criticism
Moses
had earlier killed an Egyptian in bid to save an Israelite (Exodus 2:12). In
fact, that was why he went on exile in Midian. He was scared that they might
still be present to kill him if they caught him; but God assured him that they
were dead (Exodus 4:19)
For
us, it might not quite be that we committed murder. We probably might have done
something in the past that others feel
we need to pay for. We would want to hold back because we are afraid of
wagging tongues, people reminding us of our failures and all that.
I
need you to know that when people try to crucify you because of the past, you
must look to the one who saw that flaw/mistake/crime and called you anyway. He
will defend you.
Remember:
The Lord is a shield to those who take
refuge in HIM (Proverbs 30:5)
GO
ABOUT YOUR CALLING/PURPOSE/ASSIGNMENT!! God doesn’t call the qualified. He
qualifies the called.
“And those he
predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified.” (Romans
8:30 NIV)
Committed to Your Fulfillment
Are you female and between ages 13-20? You probably want to join LIT mentoring class!!
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