when you don't (think you) have what it takes

A friend said it so beautifully, I couldn't help but share. She is beyond busy, faced with overwhelming needs and not enough hours in the day to respond. Myrto writes,

"It is always a sling and a few stones. It is always trumpets and a few ram horns. Let's face it, you have to get a bit ridiculous, a bit pitiful, a bit pathetic to fight the Lord's battles. Chariots, armors, weapons, anything that screams 'success' won't do. Only 'losers' recruited."
"The ministry is always small, weak, unpromising, always standing in the desert before the great giants in the land. Every year we have to take hold of our slings, pick up a few stones."

In ourselves, we lack. Whether time or money or education or creativity or courage, when we measure ourselves against the task that must be done, the deficit is painfully obvious.

But into this vacuum, the Spirit of God shows up, ready to work. He delights in our weakness, so he can demonstrate his strength. But still we must act. The stone doesn't sling itself, the wall doesn't build itself, the dissertation doesn't write itself, the children don't raise themselves...

Our part is to simply obey. To give our best. And then to watch as God transforms our feeble offering so that it becomes more than enough.

With Him you do have what it takes. You can count on that.

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p.s. I wrote this post weeks ago, before my NIV series was finished, and so I scheduled it to appear later. Now, on the night before it's set to go "live," I'm re-reading it . . . absolutely delighted at how God has done it again. He took my feeble offering, the fully revised dissertation that I submitted two weeks ago, and made something beautiful of it. I had given my best effort, honestly not knowing if it would be good enough. In the words of Dr. Block, "Congratulations on getting it to this stage. You have worked very hard, and it has paid off magnificently. Go out and celebrate." Needless to say, WE DID!