As I mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, I have started my own personal word study of the words “can” and “cannot” in the Bible. I am still in the beginning stages (I’m up to verse number 85 out of the 285 listings of the word “can”). There is so much that God has already shown me, but it’s still going to take me a while to get all of my thoughts organized so that I can clearly share everything with all of you.
One thing about Bible reading, I have found that I learn more when I read the Bible straight through from Genesis to Revelation . . . no “Bible studies” or Bible reading plans that make me skip from one passage to another . . . just a straight, pure reading from God’s Word to see what God says about Himself. I have nothing against Bible studies, but I personally use those resources as the “salt and pepper” to the real “meat” of the Bible itself. I am now on my third reading of the Bible for the year. A few days ago, I started reading in the book of Exodus about Moses and the children of Israel. The thing that stood out to me was that God chose Moses to lead the children of Israel out of bondage, but Moses was the one who kept saying he was not physically capable. During the entire burning bush encounter, God never implied that Moses could not do the job even after all of the excuses Moses gave! If God calls us to do a task, He gives us everything we need physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to complete that task.
I always like to use my running as a parallel to the life lessons God teaches me in His Word. Training myself to run has taught me that we don’t have to be in competition with each other. I do want to continue to improve my time and stamina. I know what to do to make that happen. The thing is, I never feel pressured by anyone else even when I’m in an official race. When I’m focused on what everyone else is doing, I’m not concentrating on my own goals. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy competition, but if competition is the only reason why I do anything in life, I’m doing it for the wrong reason. The real satisfaction comes in the completion of the race and the lessons learned along the way.
The same goes with Christian ministry. If God has called me to a task, He has chosen that task specifically for me. That does not mean that I am better at it than anyone else, or that anyone else is better than me. It means that that God wants to use the task He has given me to draw me and others closer to Himself. I may not win any contests or medals, but as in racing, the ultimate joy comes with the lessons learned along the journey, and with the satisfaction of knowing that the task was completed the way in which God intended.
Before we criticize Moses about his lack of confidence in himself and God, as Christians we must ask ourselves how many times we have made excuses why we can’t do something we know God has called us to do. God has already promised us that He will give us whatever we need to do what He wants. Again, I use my running as a parallel, because as I mentioned in a previous post, running is something I never thought I could do because of my clubbed feet. Doctors told me that I should not do any physical activity that involved running, so I avoided it as much as I could. However, as my dad used to say all of the time, none of us will ever really know whether or not we can do something until we at least try. Out of curiosity, I tried in January. So far, I have run TWO races, and I’m looking for a THIRD! God has given me the physical stamina, focus, and determination to keep going. I am finally learning that no matter what the task, I CAN do it . . . because GOD can do it!
Until next time . . . let’s keep on running!!!
This Race Called Life 