August 24
August 24
God always empowers his people to do what he calls them to do.
There was a time when I took pride in my seemingly endless energy and ability to get a lot done quickly. Then I got sick and experienced weakness I had never known before. My first thought, once I realized that my weakness wasn’t going away soon, was, “How will I do what God has called me to do?” I thought I had the greatest gospel influence I had ever known, yet I was weaker than I had ever been. I had to face the truth that God hadn’t called me to his work because I was independently strong and capable. No, he had called me because he was able and would supply me with what I needed in order to do what he had called me to do. Every command and commission of the Lord is accompanied by his empowering grace. When God sends us, he goes with us. That which he asks us to do, he then enables us to do. God never commissions us to his work and then turns his back and walks away.
It is important to our spiritual health that we confess that we have no natural ability to obey God’s holy commands. We have no independent capability to be part of his kingdom work. When God called fearful Gideon to lead his people to defeat the Midianites, he greeted Gideon with these words: “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judg. 6:12). It is clear that Gideon was not naturally brave, but God knew what he would empower Gideon to do.
God called Ezekiel to a difficult ministry as his prophet. Ezekiel had to proclaim a message that God’s children did not want to hear. God knew his prophet would face threats and opposition, so, in the early chapters of Ezekiel, we find great encouragement and assurance: “The hand of the Lord was upon him” (1:3); “the Spirit entered into me” (2:2); “the hand of the Lord was upon me” (3:22); “I will open your mouth” (3:27). God assured Ezekiel that he would not be left on his own. He would not be left to the small warehouse of his own resources. God would do through Ezekiel what he had called Ezekiel to do.
Pride in your spiritual life or ministry is moral thievery. When we boast about our spiritual maturity or what we have accomplished in ministry, we steal glory from the one who enables us to be what we have become and to do what we do. We live and minister in a way that is pleasing to our Lord only by the power of his grace.
Like Ezekiel, you don’t have to be afraid to take up God’s call. You don’t have what it takes; but he does, and infinitely more. He will give you what you need when you need it. When he sends his children, he goes with them. When he calls his children, he empowers them. The fearful person and the proud person make the same mistake: each focuses on his own power rather than on the amazing grace of the Lord.