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NOT ALWAYS READY
"But Moses said, 'O Lord, please send someone else to do it.'" (Exodus 4:13, NIV)
We all have a pretty good idea of what it takes to make it on one of the top professional golf tours.
And we can, nearly all of us, profess that we do not have a chance at making it. We don't even have to muster up a strong dose of humility to do this.
Of course, it you're young and can play and have big league aspirations, I don't want to talk you
down. I just know that those who can make it are in an elite minority.
But what if God showed up somewhere in the middle of your back nine one day, after you had just made
three straight double bogeys, and said, "I want you to go to tour school!"
Go ahead. It's not irreverent to say it. You would think God was off His rocker.
In fact, you might laugh and say words much like Moses': "Good thinkin', Lord. But you want the
guy in that next fairway over."
You see, our idea of success in the Western world is much about experience and qualifications. Since
most people don't take up golf until their adult years, the odds of making a tour are slim, and any attempt would look a whole lot like failure.
We don't do well—none of us—at facing failure. It's bad enough when it catches us by surprise. Almost
no one would walk into it willingly.
So when God calls us to do something unexpected, the first thing we do is play Moses and begin
checking off the several traits that would disqualify us from such a venture.
But there is this problem: it is God who is doing the calling. And in spite of all our efforts to hem
and haw and say we're not ready, God chooses no one He hasn't equipped—though His idea of what equips us is far different from ours. The truth is, the less we look the part, the more God gets to show
Himself through us.
We can try to wiggle our way off the hook, just as Moses did. And God might send in some assistance,
an Aaron. But while Aaron might have been speaking, Moses was still going. "Take this staff in your hand," God directed him, "so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
In our own lives we are practiced at measuring success. Likewise, we measure our pre-success, looking
for odds in our favor before we plow ahead. But God ordains and creates success. He is the one in control. So when He surprises you with an assignment you're sure you can't handle, remember who has
called your name. Remember who has presented Himself before you. Then shut up and follow.
--
Jeff Hopper
October 25, 2007
Copyright 2007 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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