To all who read my blog:
Today’s post is my 500th post! I can’t believe I have written that many posts, and I know that it is only because of God’s grace that I have been able to do so. I began this blog in 2016 because I believed that God was calling me to put in writing the things He inspires in me. I hope that these writings have blessed you as much as I have been blessed in writing them. I thank God for His inspiration, and I thank you for reading what I write.
Blessings!
Roy
As a toddler of only 19 months old, Helen Keller suffered from an illness which left her deaf and blind. Yet, not only did she become an author, political activist, and lecturer, but she also became the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. Abraham Lincoln, born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky and largely self-taught, became a lawyer in the state of Illinois and later went on to become perhaps one of the greatest, if not the greatest, presidents of the United States. In 1967, Jim Abbott was born without a right hand. Despite that handicap, he went on to become a major league pitcher who played major league baseball for ten years and is now a motivational speaker.
These are just some examples of people who overcame odds in order to accomplish great things in their lives, people who did not make excuses for their shortcomings but rather worked through them to do the things that they have become famous for. It would have been very easy for Helen Keller to say, “I can’t do these things. I am deaf and blind.” Or for Lincoln to say he wasn’t educated enough to become a lawyer, let alone an American president. Or for Jim Abbott to say, “I can’t play baseball. Look, I only have one hand!” But none of these people used their physical or educational shortcomings as an excuse.
Have you ever felt you weren’t good enough, well-educated enough, or young (or old) enough to do something? Moses did! In Exodus 3:10, God told Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh in order to bring God’s people out of their slavery in Egypt. Moses responded with excuses: “But, God, who am I to do this? I’m not good enough (Exodus 3:11).” “I wouldn’t have the slightest idea of what to say if they ask me who you are (Exodus 3:13).” “No one will believe me (Exodus 4:1).” “I’m a terrible speaker (Exodus 4:10)!” Moses did not believe that he was the right person for the job. He didn’t believe he could pull it off. And so, he kept making excuses.
But despite the excuses, God used Moses. Despite Moses’ shortcomings, God used him to go to Pharaoh and to lead God’s people out of the land of Egypt. And Moses became one of the greatest leaders in the Bible. But it was not because Moses was qualified to do those things on his own. It was because his qualification came from God. Moses was called by God to lead His people out of Egypt. And just as Moses was called to the mission God was giving him, we are called to be ministers of God’s covenant, the promise of salvation through His Son, Jesus. We are called to spread the Good News of Christ to others.
Now, we may believe we are not qualified to fulfill this call. Like Moses, we may make excuses. “I’m not good enough!” “I don’t have the education I need for that!” “I wouldn’t know what to say.” It’s true, on our own, we are not qualified. In the NLT, 2 Corinthians 3:5-6a says, “It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant.” None of us is truly qualified to spread the Good News on our own. As it says in 2 Corinthians 3:5, that qualification comes from God. Through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, God gives us all that we need to fulfill His calling (Philippians 4:13; Acts 1:8). So, here’s a question: what’s your excuse?
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
A Worshiper's Journal 