Who Me?: Are You Called to Do the Impossible
We all love Han Solo. But after rescuing Princess Leia, Han wasn't about to risk his neck again for the rebellion. He hadn't signed up for this cause.
"Besides, attacking that battle station is not my idea of courage. It's more like, suicide."
Thankfully, Han came around. But I think we can all identify with him. I know some of the men in the Bible could.
I love the honesty of some of the men in the Bible. It is comforting to know that God used people who not only felt unqualified for the job they were given, but also needed convincing for them to agree to the assignment. Moses: You want me to tell the most powerful man in the world what? Those people didn't even like me when I left, why would they listen to me now? I'm not even that good at speaking! You probably should pick someone else. (God brought in Moses's brother Aaron to help.) Gideon: You want me to lead an army? Why would they follow me? I'm nobody from nowhere, from the smallest family in the smallest tribe. You're going to have to prove it to me. (God passed all the fleece tests) Jonah: You want me to leave my people to go where?! Nineveh?! Those people are dangerous and mean...and I don't like them. I'm going to have to say no. (And then God had to use Free Willy to bring him around.) And we might criticize these guys, but let's compare their mission statements to modern situations: Imagine if God wanted you to:
Lead a strike force in Venezuela against the Communist Regime
Demand—in person— that Kim Jong-un of North Korea would let go of all his Christian prisoners
Leave your comfortable home in America to preach to the army of Hamas to repent or else God was going to punish them
If that doesn't make you wet your pants a little, then you're not being intellectually honest. And God may never ask you to do anything so extreme, but He probably could want you to:
Help lead a rally in support of a bill that would ban abortion.
Join a team of people who seek to rescue children from sex trafficking
Focus your time on developing relationships with, serving, and sharing Christ within an at-risk neighborhood
If you think that this list is only for some Christian special-forces unit and not you, might I remind you once again of the normal, everyday men and women who were called by God to do extraordinary things. But it might also surprise you to know that this list is not actually that extraordinary. Look at these commands given to EVERYONE:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed. Prov. 31:8
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. Prov. 24:11
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel into every creature. Mark 16:15-16
So maybe God is telling us that ordinary people are supposed to do extraordinary things, because they serve an Extraordinary God. Ultimately, we can face anything, because it's not about us nothings, it's about how God is everything. Remember what God did through these drafted scaredy-cats who pushed through their fear to take action:
Moses led perhaps the largest escape mission of all time from the most powerful nation in the world
Gideon defeated a powerful army with only 300 people armed with trumpets and lamps.
Jonah's message changed the course of an entire region— a mass revival among the most ruthless, wicked people alive.
And so you may not—through God— accomplish something so grandiose, but think of the miracles you could see:
Millions saved from death and become parents, lovers of God, preachers, world-changers
Thousands delivered from slavery, loved and healed by God, and become disciple-makers who tell about how great God is to another generation
Whole neighborhoods changed and healed with the love and power of the Gospel.
Why you? Because He wants to have the joy of sharing His victories with everyone— AND He wants to show it's Him doing the saving. (I Cor 1:26-28) “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 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. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
If you're scared, that's normal. Just don't let your fear get in the way of your obedience. It's time to enlist in God's Rebellion against the dark forces of this world. Just take it one step at a time. You may never know the great victories you'll miss out on if you don't.
