Ephesians 2:10 declares, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works”—not to accept good works or watch good works happen in the church but to DO good works—which God prepared in advance for us to do" (NIV). It has always been God’s plan for us to DO something.

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Almost three years ago, I was called to teach monthly ladies' Bible studies at Greater Bakersfield's First Pentecostal Church, under the leadership of Pastor Kevin Bradford. I was terrified. Researching, studying God's word, praying, and writing were doable; I had been doing that for awhile in the comfort of my home. Delivering those Bible studies, however, was not in my plan. At all. But God had a different plan for me, and it included sharing what I had learned and written with our ladies. This blog is an extension of that work. 

 

If you are reading this, you are called to do something. Yes, you. We have many reasons—excuses, usually—we cannot do what we should be doing to further the Kingdom of God, and apparently, God knew we would need some convincing. He knew our flesh and our insecurities would get in the way of our callings, as it did with numerous people in scripture.  Many narratives in the Bible exemplify this, as God called people for a specific purpose who had trouble accepting the call and instead responded with excuses.

 

One example is Gideon, in the 16th chapter of Judges. He was called to war, but he had an excuse: He said, I am from a poor, insignificant family, and I am too young. God’s response to that was, “Go do it; I will be with you.”

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Gideon was threshing wheat, a job for the servants or the youngest children of a household, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and called him a “mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12). Gideon probably thought, “Who? Me? Is this some kind of joke? I’m just a poor kid,” but God did not see an insignificant child of low economic status; He saw a man with impressive courage and bravery. He saw who Gideon could be, not who he was.

 

When God calls us to ministry, most of us probably do not run to the mirror, look at a jubilant person reflected therein, and proclaim triumphantly, "Yes! I can do this! No problem, God; I'm the one for the job!" No, our reactions are probably more like Gideon's because we focus on our weaknesses, our deficiencies. God’s perception of us, however, is far different from our own skewed opinion of ourselves. He does not look at our lack of abilities and dismiss us as not good enough; He sees our potential, what He knows we can do in Him, and He calls us to do great works we think we are not capable of.

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Don't let your relationship with God hinge on what you can receive from Him. The blessings He provides are without measure, and we should be grateful for every one of them, but we are called to be a blessing, to do something.

 

Think about what you can do to further the kingdom and to bless others. Prayerfully consider not simply what you want to do but what God is calling you to do. “God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts," Peter announces. "Use them well to serve one another” (I Peter 4:10, NLT).