He commissioned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
Mark 6:7
Have you heard these preacher clichés?
“God equips the sent not sends the equipped.”
“God uses the available not the able.”
They are cliché in part because they’re true. The Bible is full of stories of the under-prepared being used in powerful ways. Noah had never built a raft much less an ark that would save all land dwellers. Gideon wasn’t even a soldier much less a general for an entire army. Joseph couldn’t manage his relationships with his brothers much less manage the affairs of a nation. Moses couldn’t deliver a speech much less deliver the voice of God.
God trusts under-prepared people with his purposes, and Jesus did too.
Jesus gave them authority and sent them on His mission. Jesus entrusted the expansion of His mission to these ill-equipped, under-prepared followers. Sound familiar? It ought to. Because if He has called you, then He has entrusted you with His mission too. Do you feel inadequate for the task you’ve been given? You’re not alone. In the wisdom of God, He has chosen to use weak, inconsistent, imperfect agents to accomplish His mission of reconciling a lost and broken world to Himself. The church is God’s plan even though it is an imperfect, broken body.
As for me, I don’t want to give my life to something that I can do. I want to give my life to something only God can do. Doing life this way means that only God gets the glory.
What about you?
Think These Things 