by Martijn van Tilborgh
Every day I get to talk to leaders who are called and gifted by God. Leaders who have been granted a message that equips them to serve the people God had in mind when He gave them that very message.
A message so powerful that it has the ability to neutralize the pain in people's lives.
Here's the challenge though ...
These leaders that I talk to--unfortunately--do NOT have what it takes!
What they have is simply not good enough to "get the job done".
There is just too much of a discrepancy between their abilities and what God is asking them to do.
Yes, I know, these are some quite depressing statements.
But let me explain ...
Imagine how Moses must have felt the day rolled up to the burning bush. The weight of the responsibility that came with the opportunity to deliver God's message to a nation.
The questions that must have raced through his mind ...
Am I even qualified to do this job?
Will anyone even care?
What will I tell my wife?
Who is going to help me to refine my message?
Egypt is so far away. How do I even get back there?
And once I do, how will I lead these people through the wilderness?
The pure logistics of the task at hand were intimidating enough to kill the mission before it even started.
The truth is that being a good steward of the gift and message that God has given you is not easy. Even for Moses. It's overwhelming and hard. There is just too much to do, too much to think of, and too many logistics to work out if you truly going to do what God is asking you to do.
The struggle is real.
Moses could have said "Let me first get my ducks in a row" before I take the leap. Maybe he could have done some "speech therapy" first, or go back to school to get political science degree to be better prepared to talk to Pharaoh.
Moses could have done a lot of things before taking the leap. Yet, remarkably, he didn't.
The reality is that when you're 100% prepared to take the leap you're already too late!
It reminds me of another story, this time from Matthew 14, where Jesus feeds the multitude. There were 5000 men gathered together (women and children not included). When it came time to dinner time, Jesus instructed His disciples to feed the group somehow.
He told His disciples: "You give them something to eat."
Was He setting his own disciples up to fail?
What was Jesus asking from them?
After all, all that they could find was five loaves of bread and two fish.
How was that going to get the job done?
The disciples simply didn't have what it took to do the job that Jesus was asking them to do. Five loaves wasn't going to feed the 5000.
Here's the reality. None of us have what it takes to "feed" the multitudes with the message that God has given you.
What God is asking from us gives us enough reason to not do anything at all.
"I don't have what it takes, therefore why bother?"
But here is the beauty of the story. Jesus didn't focus on what He didn't have. Out of the 100 things He could have focused on, He focused on what He DID have. He simply did what He could do and started breaking what was not enough.
And that's where the miracle happened!
He simply got started with what He could start with which allowed God to multiply the impact of Jesus' efforts. At the end of the story all were fed. In fact, they packed 12 take-home baskets after it was all said and done.
There may be a huge gap between what I know God is asking me to do and my current reality.
Yes, I may not have what it takes, but I'm going to take the leap anyways.
Instead of waiting for the perfect circumstance, I'm going to focus on what I do have and what I can do while trusting God to multiply my efforts.
It's not about what you have, it's what you do with what you've got!
Are you called?
Do you have a message?
If the answer is "YES" don't wait around for perfect circumstances. Get started with what you can do and let God do the rest!