“I’m nobody.” “I’m inadequate.” “I have no status.” “I have no talents or skills.” “I have nothing to bring to the table.” And the penultimate: “I can’t.”
Those are often short little comebacks we use when asked to do something out of our comfort zone, or when challenged by something out of our wheelhouse. We often shrink in fear because we just don’t think “we got it” or to put it another way: we think we don’t have the “it” factor (whatever “it” is).
Step back for a moment and take a breath. Imagine if some of the Bible characters said that and were paralyzed by fear:
- David was the runt of the litter. Not even his dad thought he could be a candidate for the next king.
- Gideon was hiding, crushing grain while in hiding out of fear of the Philistines, when the angel appeared to him and called him a “mighty man of valor.” 🙂
- Deborah became the only female judge because she was willing to trust God (unlike Barak, her counterpart).
- Peter was a blue-collar fisherman trying to keep his head above water (pun intended) making a living.
- Caleb and Joshua stood against the odds (10 other spies) to say, “We can do this. We can take this land.” They spent the next 40 years wandering the wilderness because the other 10 spies were able to convince millions of people to be afraid.
This brings to mind verses in I Corinthians 1. Verses 27-29 say, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” (NLT)
The world see humility and trust in God as silly, as a sign of weakness. Foolish is the word Paul uses. Little do they know God’s presence and power make all the difference in a believer’s life.
So…step out today in faith. Take that step which seems so scary, so unsure. Your nothingness, your inadequacy, becomes much in God’s hands.
Besides…can’t never did anything.
