Ill Equiped for the Job

 

Ill Equipped for the Job

By Darla Kinion

August 23, 2020

 

How many times have you felt that God was asking you to do something that didn’t fall into your comfort zone?  To either say something to someone, do something for someone?

You know something you would not really ever do.

And your first thought was, “Uh, yeah, no!  I am not going to do that.  I would not even know where to start.”  You probably think that you are the only one that has ever felt that way.  I am here to tell you that you are wrong!

We are studying different books in the Bible.  Today we studied about Esther.

Now, as a little girl I often referred to the book of Esther as the “Beauty Pageant” book.  It was that but that is such a miniscule part of what that book is.

We all know of the girl, Cassie Bernal, at Columbine High School, that when she was asked if she believed in God, she boldly declared “YES” and was shot for her faith.  She was martyred.

The scripture kept coming up as I recall, “For such a time as this.”

For such a time as this.  That phrase is in the Bible a lot.  You ask me where?  Ok, well you got me there.  It isn’t quite worded that way.  Mostly it reads, “And it just so happened.”  We have all read that in there.  Think of all the Bible stories that you read that have that in them.  It translates into “for such a time as this.”

Well that scripture comes up when we read about Esther.  Her Uncle Mordecai tried to persuade her with those words to go to the King and plead for the Jews, her people.  That perhaps she had won the “Beauty Contest”, for such a time as this.

I am sure those words were not comforting.  You see, just because she was in the palace and she was by all rights the Queen, she held no prestige or honorable place.  She was a woman.

She felt ill equipped for the job.

Now you might think, well, in Bible days that would be about right.  No one would have expected her to step up and be courageous.  So, we justify it.

I can pretty much guarantee it, that in this day and age, especially here in the United States, that if you were to say, “Well, she’s a girl, so we don’t expect her to be courageous, or be equipped to get the job done, that any girl would do everything in her power to prove you absolutely wrong.  We attribute her lack of courage as to being a woman.  But God, didn’t see it that way.

But I also want you to realize that Esther was not the only person in the Bible to realize or believe that she was ill equipped for the calling that God had for her.

There were several men in the Bible that had the same identity crisis.

I am just going to pick on a few.

Let’s start with Moses.  Now we all know who Moses was.  He was a Jew that had been raised as an Egyptian.  Adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Two heritages that were against each other.

God placed a call on Moses.  There are a lot of “for such a time as this” moments in this story.

One of the first ones is Miriam, his sister.  For such a time as this she was watching her baby brother in the very river that Pharaoh’s daughter would be bathing.  For such a time as this, he was raised in the Pharaoh’s palace.  He was a learned man with all the niceties that could be bestowed upon him.

But he messed up and had to flee for his life while his people stayed in exile.  But God had a plan.  He always does.  He planned for Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses, with all of his learning, felt ill equipped.  He stuttered and felt that God could surely use someone else to do this job.  But God had already planned on Moses.  He was there for such a time as this.

How about Gideon.  You know that God had a plan for Gideon.  He was a prophet.  He was a man of little faith.  Have you ever known someone that could talk the talk but didn’t walk the walk?  That was Gideon.

He just couldn’t understand why God would call his timid little self to lead an army of men that would be able to defeat an even greater army.   But God had placed Gideon at just the right place at just the right time. 

Let’s talk about David.  Yes, the one that would be King.  I am sure that if you have ever read the Psalm’s you would see that there were plenty of times that he felt that he was ill equipped.

But God had a plan.  God had a master plan.

We can look at these few people and see where they are coming from.

Those were pretty big callings on just a handful of people.

But we forget that God doesn’t look at things the way we do.

When we see a woman that would be afraid to go see her husband, the king, who held her very life in his hands, God sees a heroine.  A mighty woman of God that said “If I die, I die.”  And she stepped into her calling!

When we look at a man that stutters and feels inept in his speech.   Afraid to go to Pharaoh and plead for his people to be set free, God sees a mighty leader.  A man that would watch over and guide a multitude of people and take them to the land that was promised them.  He stepped into his calling!

When we look at Gideon, a prophet that would proudly proclaim God to a people but then not trust the very things’ he was telling them to be true, basically a coward, a timid little man.  But God proclaimed him to be a Mighty Man of Valor!  He took down an opposing Army with only 300 men.  He stepped into his calling!

When we look at David, a boy who would be king, and see that he had his downfalls.  He felt like he probably should not be King.  How could he lead a country when the king of that country was constantly trying to kill him?  He felt like he was ill equipped to do the job.  But God had placed him there to become the Godly leader that Israel needed.  When we saw a shepherd boy, God saw a King!  He stepped into his calling!

Each one of these people were born in a place and time unto their calling.  God had a plan for them.  Each of them.  Just like He has for each of us.  He has a call on all of our lives. 

Am I going to say that you might become a heroine like Esther, a leader like Moses, a Warrior like Gideon or even a King like David, who knows, perhaps?

But maybe, just maybe, He is calling you to be a Sunday School teacher, a missionary, a pastor, the person who serves communion, the one that writes letters to the shut-ins, the one that heads up the food bank, the one who takes care of the nursery.  Maybe you are the one that leads song service, sets up a neighborhood watch, the one who finds out which of your friends or neighbors is in need and you find a way to fulfill that need.  Maybe you are going to be called to buy a hamburger for a homeless person, maybe you are called to open your house to have home Bible studies, maybe you are called into politics (much, much prayers for you if that is your calling).

What I am trying to say, you were born for such a time as this!  “This” being whatever it is that God places in your heart and your mind and your life to do.

He never places a calling on you that He will not see you through it.

He has placed a call on all of us! 

Are you going to be willing to step into your calling? 

He will not leave you ill equipped!

Have You Been To Nineveh Lately?

Have you been to Nineveh lately?  Now that is a funny question isn't it?  Especially seeing as Nineveh is not a place anyone can go to anymore.  Or can they?                                                       Our church is currently doing a study on Redemption stories.  Today's lesson was on Jonah.  It was an interesting lesson.  Most of you have either read or heard the story of Jonah.  Probably more than once.  We'd all heard about how Jonah didn't want to go there because their reputation was known.  They were not nice people.  As a matter of fact, they were pretty evil, hence the reason God wanted Jonah to go there.  But Jonah wasn't having it.  He was not only afraid of them, I mean, who wouldn't be?  I know that it would intimidate me.  But he also hated them.  He was a bit prejudiced against them.  They were the Assyrians and they were far from Godly.             In his opinion, if they weren't from Israel, so they did not deserve to hear about God, or from God.  They especially did not deserve to reap the benefits of Gods mercy.  He didn't want to have anything to do with them.  He became defiant!                                                                                  He probably couldn't believe that God would actually ask him to do such a thing as to put himself in danger by going to the city of Nineveh, where they hung the hides of their enemies on the walls, impaled, them on stakes or even buried them alive in their walls.  They were evil like I said.  He probably wondered why God would want one of His prophets to be subjected to this.  He probably thought it over in his head and thought surely this was a death sentence.  God wanted him to die at the hands of people that he despised.                                                                 But he was a prophet of God!  He had always been obedient to the Lord.  He always spoke when and to whomever the Lord God told him to.   Well, as long as they looked like him and spoke like him and were not different in any way.  He was prejudiced!                                                              So, he did what any man of God would do in that situation.  He bought a ticket on a boat in the other direction!                                                                                                                                     Now we all know that God got his attention, you know, the big fish and all, and he finally went to Nineveh!  Just because he went there did not necessarily mean he was happy about it!  He'd had 3 days to stew in the decisions he had made.                                                                           He cried out to God when the realization came to him that he wasn’t actually dead.  He hadn’t drowned but had been rescued. He praised God for saving him out the pits.                            Jonah says after 3 days in the pit of this “Big Fish” that God spoke to the fish and had him vomit, not open his mouth and let him walk out, but vomit him onto dry land.                                    Now, I know there are a lot of fishermen that might read this so you will understand what I am talking about.                                                                                                                              When Jonah came out of that big fish, I am reminded of Martha’s words when she was talking to Jesus about her brother Lazarus at the tomb when she said, “Surely he stinketh!”                           I am sure that Jonah surely stinkethed!                                                                                       Also, let’s get a mental picture here.                                                                                              He had been in the stomach of a big fish for 3 days.  I would imagine that all those stomach acids had done a number on his skin.                                                                                                      So, he stinkethed and he looked like, well, fish vomit.                                                                Then the Lord spoke to Jonah again.                                                                                        Paraphrase:                                                                                                                                 “Now that I have your attention son, I would like you to go to Nineveh!  I want you to tell them this message.  “In forty-days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”                                                           It took him three days to walk from one end of Nineveh to the other.  Some believe that it was 60 miles wide.  The Bible says there were more than 120,000 people there.                                         I am sure like Martha, many of them thought, surely he stinketh, and I am sure they thought he looked awfully strange.                                                                                                                  But God got their attention.  Just like he had gotten Jonah’s.                                                      After delivering the message Jonah went and sat on a hill and waited for the mass destruction,      And he waited and waited and waited.                                                                                          But God had got ahold of their hearts.                                                                                          The king and the people repented and turned from their evil ways and God in His infinite mercy spared the great city of Nineveh and all of its inhabitants!  For God is a God of Justice as well as a God of mercy!                                                                                                                              But Jonah did not see it that way.                                                                                                    He was wanting the Justice side of God to reign down.  Forgetting the mercy that God had just shown him.                                                                                                                                       In the end while Jonah was wanting to know why God had not destroyed them like He said He would, God reminded him that He was a God of love.                                                                Now as we all know, John 3:16 had not been written yet.  That would come along several hundreds of year later, wherein that time Nineveh was destroyed because they had turned away from God.                                                                                                                                       But at this moment, at this point of time, we have the message that was needed.                        For God so loved the World!  Not just Israel.  The Whole World!                                               The message of salvation was not just for Israel.  It was for the whole world.                         Now, if I was Jonah, I would have kept my mouth shut about this ordeal.  I would not want my friends or family or anyone for that matter to know that I had been disobedient to God and that I had become fish vomit before He could get my attention.  I would not want them to know that I had waited on the side of a hill for God to destroy over 120,000 people just because I hated them.                                                                                                                                              But Jonah, well, God must have really got through to him.                                                           He told the story.                                                                                                                            He told how he thought that he could hide from God!  Hide from His very presence.                 But again, I am reminded of a chapter in the Bible.  It is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.                                                                                                                                          Psalm 139 reminds us that there is no place we can go that He doesn’t know it.  No place we can hide.                                                                                                                                              God knew all along where Jonah was.  God had a mission for Jonah.                                         God prepared a way for Jonah to do as He had asked.                                                                Even though it took drastic measures, Jonah finally did what the Lord asked of him and because of it many were saved.                                                                                                                 Now to get back to my original question.                                                                                  Have you been to Nineveh lately?                                                                                                    Is there someone that God is compelling you to tell of God’s undying love for them?  Someone that maybe just rubs you the wrong way?  Someone that you don’t think is deserving of Gods redeeming love and perfect salvation?  Maybe you are thinking, “I don’t want to be a missionary,” or “I just don’t think I would know what to say,” or “ANY OTHER EXCUSE YOU CAN THINK OF!”                                                                                                                     Jonah didn’t know what to say either.  God gave him the words to speak and that was the message!                                                                                                                                      What is it going take for you to realize the world, the whole world, not just the ones in the world that you like or love, not just the ones that you think deserve it, but the Whole World, needs Jesus!                                                                                                                                           Have you been to Nineveh lately?                                                                                                The whole world is our mission field!  Your next door neighbor!  Your hair dresser!  Your doctor!  Your best friend!  Your banker!  Your cashier where you shop!                                      You don’t have to go to Nineveh.  You are already there.                                                            “For God so loved the WHOLE WORLD that He gave His only Son.  That whosoever (in the WHOLE WORLD) believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!”                  There is the message, and here is the command!                                                                        Mark 16:15-16  “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth shall be saved.  He that doesn’t shall be damned.”                                                       God didn’t tell Jonah to make them repent, He just told him to give them the message.              We are not told to make people repent.  We are just to give them the message!                          God will take care of the rest.                                                                                                         He always has and He always will.                                                                                               So, who is up for a trip to Nineveh?

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned!

I hadn't heard that phrase in a very long time!

The other day I was listening to a musical group that has been posting one song at a time from their new album.  After they were done with this particular song the leader of the singing group said, "Stay tuned."  

"Stay tuned." I immediately thought how appropriate that is, especially for Christians.

I have children and many family members and friends that play instruments.  I know that they work tirelessly to keep them tuned.  Otherwise, when they go to play them they will not sound like they are supposed to.

They have invested in all kinds of tuning instruments to make their instruments sound good.

Some of these people have many different instruments and I can guarantee that each one is tuned a bit differently.  Even if it is the same instruments, a bass guitar and a bass guitar, an acoustic guitar and a different acoustic guitar, and so forth.

Not one of them is tuned to exactly the same.

The procedure might be similar but it is a bit different for each of them.

And you wouldn't tune an electric guitar the same way that you tune an electric banjo.

Each instrument is unique unto itself.

Unique unto its master as well.

The musician gets to know each instrument.  He knows the feel of it.  He knows how it is supposed to sound.  He knows when it is out of tune and when it is playing at it's best.

There was a story going around regarding an old violin that had come up for auction.

It was battered and torn and didn't look like much.  It was presented to the buyers.

The auctioneer announce that he had one more item.

An old violin!

He holds it up for all to see.

"Who'll start the bid for this violin?  One dollar?  Who'll make it two?"

The auction wasn't going well.

Then a man from the back of the room comes forward.

He gently picks up the instrument that had seen better days.  

He wipes the dust from it.  He listens to the strings and adjusts them as the audience watches.

After a few minutes he picks up the bow and plays a sweet melody.

The audience is clearly moved as the gentleman sets the instrument back in it's place.

The auctioneer picks up the old violin that had been worthless just moments before, but this time he held it up with the bow.

"Who will give me $1000.00, who'll make it $2000.00?"

Someone cried out, "How is it that it worth so much more now?  What made the difference?"

The auctioneer wisely responded, "It was the touch of the masters hand."

Isn't that just like Jesus, our Master, our Redeemer.

We sometimes let our lives get out of tune with our maker, the master designer.

When we first came to Christ, we got tuned.

But over time, we don't always stay that way.

We let worries, we let our will, our desires get in between us and the Master.

After a while we are no longer in tune with the calling that has been placed on our lives.

We get out of tune.

We let the oil run out of our lamps.  We allow the dirt and grime of this world to be our covering.

The Word of God tells us to stay tuned.

Maybe in not so many words, but it does.

He says He is coming for a church that is spotless.

A church that is listening for His voice.

A church that is walking and talking with Him, in communion with Him daily.

A church that is doing His will.

A church that is staying in tune.

We cannot stay tuned by ourselves.

We must let the Master do that.  We must let Him wipe the dust off of us and adjust us to back to where He would have us.

People, I pray that you would let yourself become the fine tuned instrument that God would have you be.

I pray that if you are feeling battered and torn, worn, not worth much, that you would allow that Masters hand to wash you clean and tune your heart.

I pray that you would allow Him to make you what you are intended to be.

Stay Tuned!