Many years ago, when I was called to serve a little church in North Dakota, I assumed God had called me to pastor that Church because He had made me ready to do so—that He had prepared me to be equal to all the challenges. "Ready," and "prepared" are relative terms; basically I had a"learner's permit." Quite honestly, I never felt like I knew what I was doing. I have never struggled with a job as much as I did that one and felt completely out of my element from day one.Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
The passage above refers to sanctification, and not merely to other callings, still the message is the same: there are some things we will not be able to do on our own (no matter how hard we try).
In Genesis 15 (and again in chapter 17), God gave Abraham a wonderful promise that his heirs would outnumber the stars in the sky. Wow! There was just one problem: the promise came too late in the couple’s lifetime. Abraham and Sarah had no children and no hopes of having any. But, ever the resourceful couple, they devised a plan to accomplish God’s promise. Painfully aware of their age and childless condition they resorted to an ancient form of surrogacy using Sarah’s maid servant, Hagar. Their plan did produce an heir (and a host of new problems), but it wasn’t God’s plan.
God promised a miracle. In giving the promise to Abraham, God also committed to making it happen—in His way and in His time. In other words, God gave a calling and promise knowing Abraham and Sarah had no way of accomplishing it themselves. This promise would indeed take a miracle. To his credit, Abraham believed God would do it and that belief was credited to him as righteousness (15:6). The promise wasn’t predicated on Abraham’s belief, however; the promise was based in God’s power.
God gave a promise and calling to Moses, too (Exodus 3:7-10). Moses, the rescued baby-turned Egyptian prince-turned exiled murderer-turned reluctant shepherd, alone and forgotten in the wilderness had turned from person of influence to outcast. Moses had potential, influence, riches, education, and a bright future in Egypt. In the wilderness of Midian he had sheep. God’s call seemed to come too late to him, too.
In reality, there are times you cannot travel from point “a” to point “b” because of the obstacles in between. By the time Moses switched careers in Midian, he had burned his bridges, he was now effectively useless to the Hebrew people. At that point God called him and gave him a fantastic promise—God wanted to use him to deliver the people of Israel.
An angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon with an equally amazing calling (Judges 6:11-14). Hiding from roving bands of marauders, Gideon was trying to thresh some wheat in his wine press. What can you see from the bottom of a wine press? One can only see choking dust and rock if one is misusing the winepress to thresh grain. One might also "see" futility, despair, and fear. Perhaps Gideon could remember the old days, too—and felt some anger and resentment that the formerly joyful harvest had become a fearful and furtive gesture.
Why was Gideon in the wine press? He had good reason to fear Midianite gangs who would often appear on the horizon to steal his food. Threshing wheat in the wine press was the humanly wise thing to do. But threshing in the wine press was a small deliverance compared to the one God had planned.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, had an impossible calling, too (Luke 1: 26-38). She voiced the obvious obstacle to achieving the promise, but at the end believed the angel and agreed to serve.
There are times we come to the end of ourselves. We lose strength, opportunity, interest, energy, ability, position, and time. Some opportunities are just too challenging. Some responsibilities are just too daunting. Some obligations are just too tedious. From time to time, for whatever reason, we are stuck—unable to grasp that blessing, calling, or promise that we feel God has given us.
Few of us suffer today as the saints of God did; our enemies are less threatening. Yet we may find ourselves at the bottom of a dusty wine press wondering how in the world we got there, and how long we will have to stay in that cloudy confinement.
The angel’s greeting to Gideon was an ironic, “O Mighty Warrior!” Certainly Gideon didn’t feel very valiant at the moment.
Abraham, Moses, and Mary were certainly overwhelmed by their calling, too. The timing just seemed so off . . . But in a discussion about Abraham, the apostle Paul reminds us
. . . as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:17-22 ESV
It is safe to assume that God sees the bigger picture, and has power to do something about it. He is the one “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist!” When often (in our winepress) all we can see are dust, enemies, and obstacles, God sees something much different. God knows where we are! --And reminds us that we serve someone who speaks the truth and sees a bigger reality. Though you cannot see or accomplish God’s promise for your life from where you stand, God can. God will. He specializes in catching people at the end of their ropes and propelling them forward into the center of His will.
The word of faith—in opposition to all that the world might say—is “Lord, I cannot do this, but I know You can. Refit me, remake me, re-energize me for the work and promise You have for me to do . . . “
I am convinced that God allows us to discover the end of our abilities and talents from time to time just so we can remember what living by faith looks like. If we could accomplish all that God intends for us-by ourselves—there would be no need for a Savior.
Further, I am convinced that God allows us to experience failure in areas where we have previously had success for the same reason—to drive us toward a deeper reliance on Him. As admirable as self-reliance and self-sufficiency might be, they are not useful in growing to be more Christ-like. Self-reliance, instead generates pride, and helps us become less motivated to seek the Savior.
If you feel stuck; if you have recently encountered defeat in some area of your life; If there is something you feel God wants you to do and that something remains just outside your reach; if your calling and circumstances don’t seem to match, then take courage! God is at work! He has just reminded you that you need Him. Stop trying to deliver yourself. Stop your meager and frustrating efforts and instead pray for His wisdom, strength, and inspiration. The best you and I can do (on our own) is usually too small, too late, and too ineffective to be useful for the Kingdom. . . But with God? A few loaves and fish can feed a multitude!
