It’s been a while since I’ve posted, part of the reason for that is that I’ve been serving on Summer Staff for the past month at a Young Life camp in Glen Spey, NY called Lake Champion. The other part of that reason is that I’ve probably been a bit lazy and I haven’t had inspiration to post something but I do today so here it goes;
God doesn’t need us, He chooses us.
This idea is crazy and it’s insane but it is true and that’s why it is so mind-blowing. In my past year of leading and at my time spent on Summer Staff this phrase has been tossed around some and I never really took it for what it was worth until recently when God chose me for something that I didn’t feel adequate doing.
This year God decided to make me and another leader on my Young Life team at Northwest High School team leaders.
Now their are a few reasons that I feel inadequate in doing this:
1. I am starting my second semester of leading, and generally, a team leader has at least a couple of years of leading experience under their belts.
2. I have a lot of responsibility on my plate with school, and with the need for a job, and with leading in general so team leading just feels like too much for me on top of it all.
3. I already feel inadequate in what I’m doing so when this happened I was kind of like “Hey God you’re kidding right?”
But the Lord spoke to me today and what He said was this:
“I don’t need you, I chose you.”
Right now that truth is an anchor for me. Today, The Lord showed me that He can use me as a team leader, He showed me that He has and will provide everything that I need to equip me to do what He has chosen me for, and that is the biggest comfort I could receive.
When I look at scripture I see that this is a constant theme throughout every circumstance. God chooses people who are inadequate and He makes them adequate and that brings Him glory and that’s why we all exist.
My favorite example of this is in John 21, where Jesus reinstates Peter:
When they had finished eating Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?“
“Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.“
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?“
He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep“
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?“
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time. “Do you love me?“
He said,“Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.“
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then He said to him, “Follow me!“
This is such a testament to the fact that God doesn’t need us but He still chooses us. In the book of Acts, Peter does incredible things. Things that are so impossible for Him to do that the only explanation is that God is in him, and that is the beauty of what we get to experience every day when we follow Jesus. We get to be a conduit for the God of the universe and let others see His power through our inadequacy.
So if you are at a place where you feel inadequate or afraid about what God has chosen for you then take comfort in the fact that you aren’t needed, you are chosen, and that is exactly why The Lord is going to give you what you need to accomplish your task.
Growing In Christ 