A Calling Above Your Capacity
Starting on Monday, we will begin a new blog series about getting our kids ready for school. There are so many things that happen as we begin to get ready for our kids’ first day, and we want you to be a part of the ups and downs of figuring out how to get 29 (our 19 children plus the 10 other children that we still help with school costs) children ready to begin a school year. We will talk about the fun things (like taking the older kids to the market), the difficult things (like trying to find every book on every child’s list even when the bookstores tend to sell out), the emotional things (like how some of our older kids feel going into 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade when they are 16 or older), and even the mundane things that every parent goes through (like making sure our kids eat a good breakfast before their first day). Today, however, I want to talk about something that came to mind just based on some events I have observed over the last few days. I want to talk about what it means to feel inadequate to serve GOD when He calls you.
Have you ever felt like GOD has called you to do something that is above your capabilities?
To be honest, when GOD called us to Haiti, I did not know how we would do it. There were so many questions and so few answers that I could not even wrap my mind around where to start much less have a well-thought-out plan of action. I felt inadequate for the task GOD was calling me to. When I was a Pastor, I always wondered why GOD chose me to lead others to come closer to Him. I always thought that if everyone else knew me the way I know me, they would wonder why GOD chose me as well. Even now, after living in Haiti for the past 2 years and taking care of these kids, it can be overwhelming. There is always something to do, someone to help, and you could stay busy here every second of everyday. To go along with that, things are still hard here. As much as we like living here, things are different and things are difficult and we can feel inadequate for the task that GOD has given us at any point of any day. The reason that this came to mind today is because I want to ask this question:
What is the difference between humility and fear?
What I mean is that in some respects it is good to feel inadequate when GOD calls us to something because we almost always truly are inadequate. And that is humility. To understand how low we are and how little we can accomplish or do on our own. But when we let that feeling overpower the truth that GOD is completely capable to accomplish anything He wants to accomplish in us, then we have missed the point of humility. We are humble when we look at our own strength, but we are completely confident when we look at the strength of the One who promises to fulfill every promise He has ever made and help us to accomplish every calling He has ever given. The difference between humility and fear is this:
Humility pushes us to do things we could never imagine by the strength of GOD.
Fear causes us to never do anything because we know how weak and pitiful we are.
Am I inadequate to accomplish what I need to accomplish here in Haiti? Absolutely. Do I have the GOD of the universe in my corner offering me the strength to do things that I could have never done without Him? Even more so. This is true for each of us. We all have things that GOD calls us to do, positions that He calls us to feel, ministries that He calls us to start, and lives that He calls us to live for His glory rather than for anything else in this world. However, many of us lose that calling to fear, to contentment, and to the other things that this world has to offer and we miss the point of why GOD has created us in the first place.
I have no doubt that GOD created me to be here in Haiti at this time with these kids…What has He created you to do?
(side note: I am sure it is something bigger than sitting on the couch watching television every night!)