Remember when God spoke to Moses at the burning bush? God told Moses he wanted him to go back to Egypt and lead the people out to the promised land. Moses looked around and said – “You’ve got to be kidding – I’m not the person for a job like that.” God assured Moses he would prepare the way and he would provide some pretty convincing miracles. Still Moses had a hard time believing he was up to the task. He pleaded – “I can’t speak well, I don’t have a college degree, I’m a convicted felon – please, send anyone else!”
Now here we have someone with an obvious opportunity. Wouldn’t you like for God to lay out such a clear plan for you; and to promise success in advance. That wasn’t good enough for Moses. He kept trying to convince God he didn’t have any of the necessary requirements for accomplishing this big job. Moses said “they won’t believe me. I don’t have anything to qualify me for doing something great.” God said, “What is that in your hand?” If you don’t remember, it was his shepherd’s staff, which turned out to be a pretty significant part of his leadership. He turned it into a snake, parted the Red Sea with it and did some other pretty cool stuff.
If you think you’re stuck, don’t have any unusual talents, don’t have the right degrees, and don’t have the credibility to have people take you seriously – let me ask you a question: “What do you have in your hand?” What natural talents do you have? What is it that you do with excellence? Do you make beautiful candles? Delicious bread? Encourage the elderly? Grow stunning flowers? Handle your children with grace? You get the idea – just look at what you have right in front of you.
With God’s help you may already have everything you need for greatness. Don’t sidestep your opportunity when you hear your call.
Thanks Dan! I absolutely needed to hear this today after feeling a little bit down because success as I am defining is taking longer then I planned. Don’t get me wrong, I am actually on the right track and things are moving along, I just want it to come a little bit quicker. On the other side, I know that their is a natural progress that takes place to getting there which takes time. So I have to learn to wait a bit.
This reminds me of Ken Medema’s song, “Moses.” The first time I heard it, it changed my life and I continue to be moved whenever I hear it. Medema has such an amazing way of zeroing in on the problem and challenging us to step out in faith. Thanks, Dan, for your own ability to do this with your messages.
Powerful on every level! Dan, I would love to, with your permission, refer to this article for some of my ladies Bible Study sessions. Such a powerful reminder to use what God has already given us and put to it work to produce greatness.