I find ,every now and then, people who have excuse after excuse why they don't serve more. Why they don't have time. How they are inadequate. How bad they used to be. They are letting their past or present ruin their future. Well to be honest God does not care about your past, your inadequacies, your imagined issues. He cares about your availability, not your ability. It doesn't matter what you can or can not do. God prefers you do nothing in your own power but to allow His Spirit to use you.
Moses was an adopted son of Pharaoh. He had all the advantages you can get but God did not use young strong Moses. No He waited till Moses was 80 years old hiding in the desert after killing a man. That is when God came knocking. Moses did not agree immediately even in the presence of a burning bush that was not consumed. He was talking to God Jehovah Himself and Moses was finding reasons not to go. Not to obey.
Exodus 4 King James Version (KJV)
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
God convinced Moses' that his arguments were futile. His failings of no moment. For God knew that Moses was going forth in the Power of God and nothing could stop him. God sent a helper with Moses to shore up his weaknesses. God made the way possible. Moses had to step out. That is all Moses had to do, Just be available.
Now for another example we shall go to the New Testament. To the book of Matthew. Matthew was a publican, a sinner and a thief. Publicans were tax collectors and the most reviled of all men. They were legal thieves. They taxed and generally took more than was required to fill their own pocket. They falsely accused people in the hopes of being bribed, they were corrupt to the nth degree. Then one day Christ came walking by Matthew's table.
Matthew 9:9-12
9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Christ called the sinners and tax collectors. Please note that the Pharisee's used Publicans as a singular category and they gave that top billing over sinners!
Christ used those who had potential, not those who had accomplished so much and had the name or the reputation.
He used fisherman to get His message out. He used tax collectors. He used at least one who was intent on rebelling and overthrowing the current Roman government. They didn't go to bible college, they generally had no schooling at all. They definitely were not choir boys. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane Peter took up a sword and cut off the servants ear. Then he denied Christ three times.
Yet he was used of God to turn Jerusalem to Christ.
God has used people with their potential in view not with their accomplishments in mind. God does not want you to be perfect, He wants you to be ready.
Moses was caring for sheep in a desert. Matthew was collecting taxes. Saul (soon to be Paul) was persecuting the church. Gideon was hiding in a barn threshing wheat. David was shepherding his flock.
We need people ready to serve. God calls people to His task, to accomplish it Through His power.
What's keeping you from serving?
There is no reason not to serve. Most of the excuses we have are put there by the devil or just pure laziness. Satan wants you to stay out of service sitting on the sidelines.
I am not necessarily talking about full time Christian ministry unless that is the direction God is calling. I am talking about teaching Sunday, joining the choir, driving a bus, shaking hands, visiting the elderly and infirm, just doing something to serve and get the Word of God out and the example of Christ shining from you as a light in the darkness.
However, if you do refuse to heed the call of the Spirit. Remember what happened to Jonah. No matter where he went God had him. Jonah went through pure misery running from God. If God is calling/has called - heed the call of the Spirit. Do not get to the point where God will have to run you down. When you turn Him down, Refuse to heed - you harden your heart, You turn from God and usually that is far uglier than just saying "Here Am I Lord Send me."
Why are you not serving? There is no excuse. There is no reason you can give that God is not aware of.
Step out today and serve Him.
Moses was an adopted son of Pharaoh. He had all the advantages you can get but God did not use young strong Moses. No He waited till Moses was 80 years old hiding in the desert after killing a man. That is when God came knocking. Moses did not agree immediately even in the presence of a burning bush that was not consumed. He was talking to God Jehovah Himself and Moses was finding reasons not to go. Not to obey.
Exodus 4 King James Version (KJV)
4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
God convinced Moses' that his arguments were futile. His failings of no moment. For God knew that Moses was going forth in the Power of God and nothing could stop him. God sent a helper with Moses to shore up his weaknesses. God made the way possible. Moses had to step out. That is all Moses had to do, Just be available.
Now for another example we shall go to the New Testament. To the book of Matthew. Matthew was a publican, a sinner and a thief. Publicans were tax collectors and the most reviled of all men. They were legal thieves. They taxed and generally took more than was required to fill their own pocket. They falsely accused people in the hopes of being bribed, they were corrupt to the nth degree. Then one day Christ came walking by Matthew's table.
Matthew 9:9-12
9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Christ called the sinners and tax collectors. Please note that the Pharisee's used Publicans as a singular category and they gave that top billing over sinners!
Christ used those who had potential, not those who had accomplished so much and had the name or the reputation.
He used fisherman to get His message out. He used tax collectors. He used at least one who was intent on rebelling and overthrowing the current Roman government. They didn't go to bible college, they generally had no schooling at all. They definitely were not choir boys. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane Peter took up a sword and cut off the servants ear. Then he denied Christ three times.
Yet he was used of God to turn Jerusalem to Christ.
God has used people with their potential in view not with their accomplishments in mind. God does not want you to be perfect, He wants you to be ready.
Moses was caring for sheep in a desert. Matthew was collecting taxes. Saul (soon to be Paul) was persecuting the church. Gideon was hiding in a barn threshing wheat. David was shepherding his flock.
We need people ready to serve. God calls people to His task, to accomplish it Through His power.
What's keeping you from serving?
There is no reason not to serve. Most of the excuses we have are put there by the devil or just pure laziness. Satan wants you to stay out of service sitting on the sidelines.
I am not necessarily talking about full time Christian ministry unless that is the direction God is calling. I am talking about teaching Sunday, joining the choir, driving a bus, shaking hands, visiting the elderly and infirm, just doing something to serve and get the Word of God out and the example of Christ shining from you as a light in the darkness.
However, if you do refuse to heed the call of the Spirit. Remember what happened to Jonah. No matter where he went God had him. Jonah went through pure misery running from God. If God is calling/has called - heed the call of the Spirit. Do not get to the point where God will have to run you down. When you turn Him down, Refuse to heed - you harden your heart, You turn from God and usually that is far uglier than just saying "Here Am I Lord Send me."
Why are you not serving? There is no excuse. There is no reason you can give that God is not aware of.
Step out today and serve Him.
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