Just Do It!

            Let me start off this week’s discussion by asking you a question. Have you ever been asked to do something that you just didn’t think you were capable of doing? Has there ever been a time when you were about to attempt a job or task that was assigned to you, and you literally told yourself, “there is absolutely no way this is going to happen, I can’t do this!”? I would be willing to bet that we have all had some of those, “I can’t do this”, kind of moments. I can remember one specific situation back in high school when I had a huge “I can’t do this” moment. The year was 2006 and I was at a youth service at Sheffield Family Life Center on a Wednesday night. As the night wore on and the service ended, my youth pastor, Kevin Brown, approached me and started conversation. “Hey, Austin…are you going to be here over the next couple of weeks?”, I figured he was just wondering so I said, “Yea man! Why? What’s going on?”. Well, he wasn’t just wondering, he had a proposition. Pastor Kevin quickly said, “Do you want to preach in service two weeks from now?”. Now, most 16 year-olds would have at least thought it over before answering the question. However, as you may know, I was not (and still am not) always the sharpest tool in the shed, so naturally I responded right away with, “Sure, I’ll do it”. Well, about two minutes after the conversation ended, the weight of the agreement I had just made started to hit me in the chest like a 100-pound dumbbell. I thought to myself, “Hold on, did I just agree to preach?...are you kidding?”.  I seriously doubted myself, and honestly I doubted God as well. You see, my youth pastor asked me to preach in the physical, but I honestly believe that God was using my youth pastor to push me forward in a spiritual sense. God was pushing me to start pursuing my calling.  Meanwhile, in my doubt, I honestly said, “Wait, what am I thinking, I can’t preach to 120 of my friends. There is no way I can do it, I am not qualified for this!”. However, God was working in this situation and was teaching me this lesson: With God, Qualification means nothing, because He is the only qualification we need…Period.

One of the greatest examples of this concept comes out of the Bible in Jeremiah 1:5-10

5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew^a you,before you were born I set you apart;I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

            You see, despite Jeremiah’s fear, doubt, and lack of qualification, God used him to speak to an entire nation on the Lord’s behalf. That is a pretty cool thing to think about. Just before Jeremiah was used by God, he was telling Him that he couldn’t do what the Lord was asking. Jeremiah was basically saying, “God, seriously man, you got the wrong guy”. Still yet, God used him mightily! And as we look at that situation, we need to remember this: God can use anybody to do anything in anyplace at anytime!

            Two weeks after I agreed to speak in youth group I preached my first sermon on a Wednesday night from Galatians chapter five. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that it was probably awful because it was my first ever sermon and I was shaking scared. I think I might have even peed a little…ok the pee part is false (haha). Nevertheless God used me, and He has used me to preach almost 25 times since then. Which is far more than I ever thought I was capable of, and far more than I originally planned on. But that is one of the great attributes of God; He really can use anybody! God used a shepherd boy named David to kill a giant and become the greatest king in world history, God used a self- conscious, stuttering man named Moses to lead Israel out of slavery, God used a young man named Jeremiah to be His mouthpiece to Israel, and God used a young virgin women named Mary to carry the King of Kings in her womb! Incredible!

            Even in my own life God has been using me more than I ever thought possible, and if He can use me with my non-intellectual mind, he can seriously use anybody. Trust me on that! Regardless of qualifications, God can and will use us! So if we feel that God is calling us to do something that might freak us out, or put a lot of pressure and stress on us, lets readily accept the challenge and…Just Do It!  One of the most well known catchphrases, from one of the most well known clothing companies in recent history, is simply that, Just Do It! This phrase, Just Do It, is almost always applied to sports, but why not apply it to our spiritual lives as well.  If God gives us orders, lets Just Do It! If God gives us instructions, lets Just Do It! If God gives us a vision or a goal, lets Just Do It! No matter how unqualified or inexperienced we may feel, we can have faith and know that God will use us regardless. Some of the greatest things in history were done by some of the least qualified people! And how did they do it.? God gave them a task and they decided to Just Do It! So lets hear his directive to us, and lets Just Do It!

Peace

Love

God Bless