What to Do When You're Afraid God Is Asking Too Much

Basil Scott was eight years old when the Japanese army

took over his boarding school in Shanghai, and his parents

weren't with him. He spent the next three years inside a

prisoner of war camp, a child living on starvation rations

with no way to reach his family. When he was ten, he contracted

meningitis and was paralyzed down one side, unconscious for

five days. The mission doctor who treated him called his

survival "one of the two miracle cases in the camp." and began

building a life that had nothing to do with Asia. Then, in 1955,

he went to hear Billy Graham speak at Cambridge. Graham

preached on sacrifice, and somewhere in that room Basil

felt God asking him a question he didn't want to answer. He

described what followed as an overwhelming call back to Asia

as a missionary, back to the part of the world that had taken

three years of his childhood and had almost taken his life.

through all of his knowledge. He had every reason to say no, and

he went anyway. We'll come back to what happened when he got

there. But first…

Welcome to Daily Devotions For Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger. When

I was in college, I was torn between engineering and music. I

eventually opted for a music degree with a major in voice,

and that was the plan. Then, God started nudging me toward

ministry. I need to tell you something about myself; standing

in front of people and speaking isn't how I'm wired. I'm an

introvert. My first response to that call was that God had the

wrong person, and I told him so. felt like more than I had to

give and I didn't hesitate to tell him. That willingness to

say the uncomfortable thing to God is what today's episode is

about. There are moments when what God seems to be asking

feels like more than you can offer. What he's asking costs

you more than you have. You've been going for a long time, and

the end isn't in sight. The question you keep coming back to

is whether God knows what he's doing. Here's today's passage.

It's Jeremiah 20: 7-9, Oh, Lord, you misled me, and I allowed

myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you

overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day, everyone laughs at me.

When I speak, the words burst out. Violence and destruction, I

shout. So these messages from the Lord have made me a

household joke.

This is Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of Scripture,

telling God he feels deceived. He's exhausted and he's

humiliated, saying, "All of it directly to God." But Jeremiah's

faith was strong enough to be brutally honest with the one who

can handle it. Many of us grew up thinking that was taboo. You

weren't supposed to say things like that to God. We were told

it's a sin to question God. We were taught that doubt's

dangerous and that struggle means something's wrong in our

life. That when God asks something costly, the faithful

thing is to smile and say yes without flinching. Well, tell

that to Jeremiah. He told God exactly how he felt. And then he

kept going anyway. The fire in his bones is what matters most

in that passage. He tried to quit. He told himself he would

stop speaking in God's name. And he couldn't because the word

wouldn't stay down. The call was stronger than his exhaustion.

Abraham carried this same tension on a different

assignment. Genesis 22 records God asking Abraham to sacrifice

his son, the son he had waited decades for, the son through

whom every promise had been made. Abraham didn't have an

explanation and he didn't have a map. He had a call and a God

whose character he had decided to trust. And he went up the

mountain without knowing how it would end. Hebrews 11: 19 gives

us a window into what Abraham was thinking. Abraham was

thinking. He reasoned that God could raise the dead. He wasn't

pretending the situation wasn't devastating. What he was doing

was he was anchoring himself in what he knew about God's

character when the circumstances made no sense whatsoever. This

is what faith under pressure looks like. You keep moving

toward God even when the ask feels like more than you have.

You bring the fear with you. Let me say something directly to the

person in that place right now. What God is asking may feel like

more than you have. He may be about to show you what he can do

with what you don't have. Jeremiah was worn out and he was

mocked. Abraham was climbing a mountain without a plan. Both

ended up doing things they couldn't have pictured from

where they stood. I know you're exhausted. I know you're afraid.

Why don't you just bring them both to God? He can handle what

you're carrying. He handled Jeremiah's and he'll handle

yours. Now, let's get back to Basil. Basil Scott spent decades

in Asia pursuing reconciliation between the people who had every

reason to stay on opposite sides of a wall.

home, and he'd gone without knowing how it would unfold.

Years later, reflecting on what God had asked of him, he said he

didn't regret any of it. What God had asked of Basil looked

like more than any person should reasonably give, but God was

asking him to take the next step without the full picture first.

Basil took it and the rest came after. I know this: God rarely

shows the full picture before he asks you to take the first step.

He showed Abraham one mountain. He gave Jeremiah one word at a

time. He gave Basil one call and no map for what to expect of the

rest of his life. He gave me a nudge toward a pulpit when I was

convinced he had the wrong man. You see, the picture comes into

focus as you walk. You rarely get it all at once. Here's

today's challenge: If there's something God has been asking of

you that feels like more than you have, don't suppress what

you're feeling. Go ahead and tell him what's going on. Tell

him you're worn out or you're scared and you think he might

have the wrong person. Don't worry. He can handle all of that.

Then ask him for one next step and then just take it. That's

how Jeremiah kept going, how Abraham climbed the mountain

without a plan and how Basil got on a plane back to the place

that had almost killed him. Lord, you know the people today who

are listening, who feel like God's asking them for more than

they have. Meet them where Jeremiah was, worn out and still

yours. Remind them that the fire and the bones is a sign of a

calling and give them the courage to take the next step

without the full picture. And let them trust that what you

have asked is worth what it will cost. In Jesus' name, Amen. If

this podcast has been an encouragement to you, would you

take a minute and leave a rating and review? It helps more people

find these devotions and it only takes a moment. I'd be so

grateful. And thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy

Lives. Remember, God rarely shows the full picture before he

asks you to take the first step. The picture comes into focus as

you walk. Come back next time for more encouragement to help

you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a

great day.