God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
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| Dr. Cortney Cash |
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| Renee Johnson |
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| Wendi Rogers |
For years I was under the impression that God only uses those people that possess a superhuman amount of faith to do His really big jobs. I looked at my Pastor's wife Renee and wondered how she could have had enough faith to move her young family miles away to start a church in a town they have never heard of. I looked at my good friend, Cortney, who was in school to become a doctor and had plans to move to Honduras with her family to be missionaries. I was astounded that anyone would have enough faith to leave a prestigious lifestyle in the States to become a mission doctor. Another friend, Wendi, has just adopted two more Asian children. That makes her the mother of 4 biological children and 5 adopted children. I looked at her and wondered how she could possess such faith as to take all of that on! When I was in MOPS, I heard a woman share about how her husband had been having affairs for years, came home one day and told her didn't love her anymore and wasn't sure he ever had. Yet, they worked through it, reconciled and are happier than they have ever been. I couldn't fathom living through that heartache and having the faith that the situation could improve.
While all of these women are amazing, the thing I didn't realize was that they are all like me, all like you. They do not have an unattainable storehouse of faith. They have the faith they have in those particular situations, because God called them to it. When God calls you to do something in His name, He places a desire in your heart to follow Him that is so strong, you cannot help but follow Him. It doesn't require as much faith as you would expect, because God supplies what you need. However, it does require 2 things:
1) It requires a relationship with Him. You will never hear what He has planned for you, if you are not spending time with Him. If you are not growing in your knowledge of Him. If you are not sharing your heart with Him. If you are not listening for Him.
2) It requires for you to be willing. I'm sure there are many people that God has called to do great things. He was ready to equip them with all they would need to accomplish it. However, they were not willing to take that first step. That first step can be scary. That's where your faith comes in. He wants to see if you have enough faith to take that first step and then He will take it from there.
The great thing about God's will is that He never gives us the whole plan at once. He only calls us one step at a time. He knows that in our human frailty that we cannot handle the whole grand picture. We will talk ourselves out of it before we even begin. In our story, first He called our family to do a 5 day mission trip together. It required some faith to say yes, to commit to sending 4 people to Jamaica. But then He called me to go to Kenya for a two week mission trip. And then He called Ben to consider becoming a full-time missionary and take our whole family to Kenya. We are only given one step at a time. We are only certain of each next step, and to this day we still aren't sure where we are going to end up. But that's okay! We know Ben is going to further his missionary and theology training so we can be prepared for whatever the next step is.
With each of my friends who are living a life following God's will, they are each able to do so because that is what God has called them to. If you told Renee to pack up and move to Honduras, she would say: "No, I could never do that!" Why? Because God hasn't called her to. If you told Cortney to adopt 5 children from Asia, she would tell you: "No, I could never do that!" Why? Because God hasn't called her to. If you told Wendi to pack up her family and go across the country to plant a church, she would tell you, "No, I could never do that!" Why? Because God hasn't called her to.
So, I want to caution you. Don't look at others and think they are living these extraordinary lives because God made them extra special. Look at yourself. Ask yourself: "Am I following God with my whole heart and listening for what He has for me? Am I willing to take the next step?" If you can answer yes to both of these questions, then watch out! You have a great story of faith coming. If you aren't quite at the place where you can answer yes, well then it is time to deepen your relationship with Christ. Your story of faithfulness has time to be written too.
Willing and Ready- Anne
"For I can do everything, through Christ who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:13
