I Can't Do That
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Sometimes seemingly impossible tasks are accomplished by very unsuspecting people. It is not always the fastest person who wins the race. The strongest man doesn’t always win the battle. The men of greatest understanding don’t always have the greatest riches (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Some of the greatest tasks that have ever been accomplished have been done by normal, everyday people. People who were not the greatest at much of anything...except faith.
David, the youngest, smallest brother killed Goliath, became a mighty soldier, and eventually king over Israel. Joseph, as a foreigner and a slave worked his way up to second to Pharaoh in all of Egypt allowing him to save his people during the famine. Moses, a shepherd of 80 years old confronted Pharaoh, King of Egypt and against Pharaoh’s will led Israel out of Egyptian captivity. Joshua led the children of Israel to conquer the land of Canaan beginning with Jericho, one of the strongest and most fortified cities in the promised land. Paul, one who persecuted Christians and approved of their murders became one of the greatest evangelists to ever live. Over and over throughout the Bible very common men through their faith in God were able to accomplish great things.
The things God allowed these men to accomplish were directly proportional to their faith. The more these men trusted in God, the greater things they accomplished for God. As their faith and trust in God grew, their accomplishments also grew. In each of their lives, it eventually got to the point that they were ready to fulfill any task that God placed before them knowing that through His power it would be accomplished.
What are you able to accomplish for God’s Kingdom? What good are you able to do? Are you able to encourage and lift up someone who is down? Are you able to lead a straying brother or sister back to the truth? Are you able to take the truth of the Gospel to a lost soul? Maybe we have limited ourselves because we have asked the wrong questions this whole time. David, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and Paul never asked what they were able to accomplish. They simply decided that they were going to do what God said and trust Him to provide the greatness necessary to accomplish the tasks at hand. One very common thread between all of these people is that they trusted God for the power to overcome.
Maybe I need to stop asking myself what I am ABLE to do and start having faith in God to provide what is necessary for Him to accomplish true greatness in my life. The good we can accomplish is only limited by our faith...or lack thereof. Lack of faith often appears in the form of small, seemingly common sense phrases. Phrases like, “it will never work”, “We’ve never done it that way before”, We’re doing fine without it”, “We can’t afford it”, or “We are not ready to do that”. These simple phrases have stopped the work of many Christians. These simple phrases keep us from doing the things that God expects us to do. We must trust Him, have faith in Him, and jump headlong into the work that He has placed before us knowing that it will be successful because His power is involved. Ephesians 3:17 says, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
