I Can't Do That... Yet.

It's the start of a new school year and, as most of you know, in addition to being a pastor, I also am a choral/vocal music teacher for grades 7-12 at the combined middle and high school in the small town that I live in. With the start of a new school year, there are a lot of changes. The seniors that I had in class last year are no longer there. I have many new faces in my high school choir and an entirely different mood/personality in that group, for the better. I also have an entirely new group of 7th graders to get to know and teach. I have only had my middle school students for two class days now, but there is one girl in my 8th period class that, when I ask the class to do something, has said this on both of those days: "I can't do that... yet." 

It's amazing how much, as a teacher, I can learn from my students. It's also amazing how much adults can learn from younger minds. When she said that statement earlier today, I was immediately reminded about how often we make excuses, or we try to get out of things that we don't feel that we are any good at.

Take me, for example. I have been on stage for as long as I can remember, singing and playing instruments. However, up until a few years ago, if you had asked me to speak, in any length at all in front of people, I would have laughed it off. I have never considered myself to be a very good speaker. However, I know without a doubt that God has called me to be a pastor and to speak truth and hope into the lives of the people of Winthrop and Brasher Falls, and the surrounding communities. No doubt. Speaking every week from the pulpit still scares me every time. In fact, when I first spoke at Victory, in December of 2014, although nobody knew it, I literally was about to pass out in the front pew, during the music, because of my nerves. Speaking does not come naturally to me. When God was calling me back north to pastor, I kind of had a conversation with God in which I listed every reason that I shouldn't do it, including how pathetic I was at speaking, both conversationally and to crowds. But God reminded me that it wasn't my power that would allow me to do it, but it was His. He reminded me that if He truly was calling me to do this, that He would give me the strength and He would give me the ability to succeed. And He has been faithful to do that, as I continue to learn what it means to pastor and lead this congregation, as well as how to grow in my speaking skills, although there is still plenty of room to grow in that department.

Hebrews 13:20-21 says, "Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen." (my emphasis added)

God will equip us with the tools that we need to carry out the plan that He has for our lives. We can choose to trust Him and follow His lead, or we can choose to follow our plan for our lives and end up somewhere completely off the map from where God intends for us and desires for us to be. As followers of Christ, we need to trust that God knows what He's doing, even when we feel unequipped and incapable of doing what He asks. All through the bible, God used people that logically shouldn't have been able to accomplish all that they did. It was only because God equipped them so that they could do His will. Are you willing to follow after God's will? Or are you making excuses for not taking a step of faith into whatever God has ahead for you?

Perhaps we should adopt the same philosophy to our faith, and to our lives, that my student has adopted for my chorus class - I can't do that... yet, BUT in God's time, and in God's way, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)