God Doesn't Call the Qualified...

He qualifies the willing.  Have you ever heard this saying before.  There are a few sayings people like to quote that I struggle with, like "God helps those who help themselves." (Not biblical)  But I love this quote because I think so many times the excuse we give to God when he calls us to something is that we are not qualified.  Yet all throughout the bible we see people that God used who had no training.  They weren't qualified for what God was calling them too, but God wanted to use them.  Lets look at a couple of people.

Moses: When God was calling Moses to go to Pharaoh and release the Jewish people, Moses had a list of excuses.  In Exodus 3:11, we see he has no confidence in himself.  In 4:1, he doubted that people would believe him.  His last excuse came in 4:10,13 when he expressed he was an eloquent speaker.  Yet besides all this, God wanted to use him and he did.  When Moses finally became willing, God did miraculous things through him.

Peter: Peter was just a fisherman.  He had a short temper, was impulsive, brash...not someone you would think Jesus would want as one of his disciples.  Yet not only was Peter one of the 12, he was one of three the was very close to Jesus.  His impulsiveness led to the beautiful story of him climbing out of the boat when no one else would, then doubted.  He was also one who started the Christian church.  Peter was far from qualified, but because he was willing, he was used.

Timothy:  Timothy dealt with a lot of doubt.  He was also self conscious because of his age.  Thankfully he had an amazing mentor, Paul, who helped him see that God doesn't look at the things man does, but at the heart.

There are so many other stories of people in the bible who to the worlds eye were not qualified; Joseph was the youngest, as was David.  Jeremiah felt he was too young for God to use; Esther was just a commoner, Ruth was a foreigner, Mary was just a girl.  To the world none of these people were qualified for the roles God had for them, yet since they were willing, God used them and qualified them through his blessings.

So what are some excuses that you say when you feel God is calling you to something you don't feel qualified for.  I thought of a couple, and of the verses that dispute them

"I'm a nobody." Oh how wrong you are sweet one.  You are a child of God!  Psalm 139 is a great chapter to read to show how precious you are to God, but here is a little part of it that I love
vs 13-18:  For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well. 
 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 
 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. 
 How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them! 
 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

"I'm not smart enough."  I have to say this is my excuse a lot when it comes to evangelism.  James 1:5 and Proverbs 2:6-8 show us the when God calls us to something, its not our own knowledge we need to lean on.
James 1:5 " If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

"I'm not gifted."  Sweet one, we are all blessed with some gift.  Ask God to show you what your gift is and use it. 
Romans 12:6-8 "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."
 1 Peter 4:10 " Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."

"I'm too young."  God uses everyone no matter what age.  I remember when my oldest was four and her Sunday school class did a mission project at McDonald's.  It might have seemed little or silly, but her and another girl held the door open for people and said "Have a good lunch...Jesus loves you."  I can't tell you the number of people who came up to me to say how much those few words meant to them.  So if God can use a four year old at McDonald's, he can us you.
1 Timothy 4:12-14 "And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use."

So the next time you hear God calling you to something, instead of saying some excuse, say the words of Isaiah 6:8 "Here am I!  Send Me!" 

One Thing Remains

They say the only constant in life is change.  Well, to an extend I agree.  In life, things are changing constantly.  As a mom, I can say in that first year of each of my girls' life, things changed all the time, from emotions, to what they were able to do, what they ate.  My husband and mine relationship changes as well.  As we grow as individuals, and as one, how we react and what we say changes.  Personally for me, I have changed a lot since I was 18 years old.
Jobs change, friendships change (especially in junior high and high school) families change (divorce, death, trials) interest change, etc.  So it would seem that change is the only constant in our life.  Yet as Christians we know this is not the case.

In Hebrews 13:8 we are told that " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  The same?  He never changes?  Jesus is the same today as He was at the beginning of time, so we can count on Him being the same forever.  Even the Old Testament enforces the fact that God never changes.  “I the Lord do not change." Malachi 3:6a.

I debated about whether or not I would post all the verses I found about this, but I decided to because, as humans, we sometimes need the reassurance.

James 1:17 "Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle."  God's has promised us blessings and gifts.  He's not going to take back the promise.

Numbers 23:19 "God is not human, that he should lie,
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
    Does he promise and not fulfill?"

God is not like man.  We make promises and we don't always follow through, but God always does.

Lamentations 3:22 " Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail."  God's love never fails.  It is always there.

Daniel 6:26b "For he is the living God
    and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
    his dominion will never end." God cannot be destroyed, His kingdom will not go away.  He is forever.

Why am I wanting to stress to you that God never changes?  Like I stated before we say change is the only constant in our life, but that is not true.  God is the ultimate constant.  He is always with us.  Everything we go through, every event in our life whether big or small, God is there.  Who God is always the same.  

There are a lot of people who don't like change and I can understand why.  Some people just like things in order.  Others don't like change because it represents something negative.  Change can happen when your parents divorce.  It can be devastating.  Friendships change over time.  I can't even begin to tell you friendship that I had for a long time that all of a sudden ended.  Changes happen to our body that we don't always get and don't always like.   Sometimes its a move.

Change can be tough, but if we only focus on the change, it can consume us and take us to a dark place.  But if we can focus on the one constant in our life that doesn't change, it can make the situation we are in better.  When we are going through change, no matter if its something good or something bad, if we rely of God through it it will be easier.  Now I'm not saying the change won't happen or it won't be hard, but if we can remember that God doesn't change, that He always delivers what He promises.

One of my favorite worship songs is called "One Thing Remains" by Jesus Culture.  The lyrics state "Higher than the mountains that I face
            Stronger than the power of the grave
            Constant through the trial and the change
            One thing remains
            One thing remains
Your love never fails it never gives up it never runs out on me." 

He is constant!  When everything is falling down around us this one thing remains: God.  

So change isn't the only constant in our life.  We just sometimes allow it to be, instead of relying on the absolute constant in our life.  If we can remember that the one who conquered the grave, who's kingdom will never fall, who's reign will never end, is on our side, we can do anything!

Here is the link for the song "One Thing Remains"

One Thing Remains

PS: I'm sorry my blogs tend to be rambles.  I sometimes have about ten minutes to write before two blond headed distractions that for some reason call me mommy come running in  :-)

Battle Buddy

After I get off the bus from beach retreat each year, I always ask how long it is till the next one.  Though I'm exhausted and ready for my bed, I always long for beach retreat!  But as I started thinking about the next one, I realized something: a couple of girls I have known since my first beach retreat are seniors this year and it will be their last beach retreat as students.  It made me sad because I not only see these girls as girls I mentor, but also friends and daughters.  I have seen them grow and mature in their Christianity over these past few years and it has been amazing.

One night we were all talking and a subject got brought up about college.  A lot of the girls were saying how they were excited, but also about how they weren't going to give into the temptations of the world.  Another lady and I warned them though to be cautious.  We both knew people, and I became one of them, that though they said no to lots of things in high school and said they wouldn't ever do them, did them.  Especially when it came to sex before marriage.  Now I could talk about that topic specifically but I am going to leave that for another post. 

I will admit, it is very hard to keep true to your convictions sometimes when you leave the comfort of your home, church, youth group, etc.  You are in a new place and you might not know anyone.   But I want to encourage you about taking steps this summer that can help any of you leaving for college in the fall.  Now of course it doesn't just apply to graduates; this applies to all.  Summer can be a great time to prepare yourself to be ready for battle when school starts.

The phrase "accountability partner" has always been used in Christian circles and I think it is such an important thing to have, but since in our church we have talked about the battle ground, I am going to use a phrase the army use: battle buddy.  A battle buddy is a partner assigned to a soldier in the army. A battle buddy to assist his or her partner both in and out of combat.  This person is to be a support system mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  So how can this work in a Christian sense?  Every day you face a battle with the world.  Now of course, God is always with us and He is our ultimate battle buddy, but it is vital to have a battle buddy (friend) to stand beside us in battle.  In Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10a, 12 shows the importance of friendship:

"Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor: 
 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
 Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broke"

When you have your battle buddy beside you, you can encourage each other, help one another when the other one is down, work together towards building the kingdom of heaven, ad hold each other accountable to living a life pleasing to God.  Now this may seem very obvious, but it is important that your battle buddy is another Christian.  And I don't mean one that just says "Hey I'm a Christian" but doesn't live that way.  You need to find someone who is wanting the same thing as you; to grow closer to God.  I love at the end of verse twelve where it says "A strand of three is not quickly broke."  This can be interpreted different ways but for friendship I love saying that you, you friend, and God make up those three strands.  When God is the center of your friendship, you can stand against anything.

So with that being said, what do I want to encourage you to do: find your battle buddy.  Make it a point to meet at least once a week for lunch, dinner, coffee, etc.  Something where you are able to talk.  If you start that now, and make it a habit to build one another up, it will continue into the school year.  And for those of you going off to college, and your battle buddy and you aren't going to the same school, make a phone date with each other; encourage one another to get plugged into a church, find other Christian friends to have as a battle buddy there.  I can tell you from my experience it is imperative to have a battle buddy that has God the center of their life to hold you accountable.  I had lost touch with those in my youth group that were my "battle buddies" and had other friendships that were focused on other things.  I started going to a church, was in a Christan sorority, but did not get plugged in the way I should have to stay on the path God wanted and I ended up straying far.  So I can not stress the importance of having a battle buddy as you get ready to start the school year, whether its high school or college.  So find that person you will be there with you on the battle ground, because remember, a strand of three is not quickly broken.