When You Feel Called to Something but Afraid to Fail

Jack Williamson has stuttered since he was a boy. He

knew what it's like to get stuck on a word while a room waits. To

get stuck so badly on the phone that he can't even get his own

name out. As a kid, the taunting taught him to dread being asked

to speak. Then he sensed God calling him to preach. Of all

things, to ask a man who stutters. God was pointing him

toward a pulpit week after week in front of everyone. Every

reason to say no was right there in his own mouth. The truth was,

the one thing that disqualified him in his own eyes was the

exact thing standing between him and what God was asking. We'll

come back to what Jack did with that, but first...

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

first sensed God calling me to preach, I had my list ready. I

wasn't a public speaker, and I didn't come from a family of

preachers. Mostly, I was afraid I'd stand up there with nothing

to say, and the people would figure out I had no business

being in that pulpit. I went anyway, and I've been at it a

long time now, and I still feel inadequate. I realized I just

need to trust the Holy Spirit and lean into his power. Some of

the most gifted Christians I know never do the thing God has

put in front of them because they're afraid it won't work.

You have an idea for a business or a ministry you could start.

You've had it for a while, and every time you get close to

beginning, the list in your head shows up. You don't have the

training, and somebody else would do it better anyway.

Here's what makes that list so convincing. Most of what's on it

is probably true, and you probably aren't the most

qualified person for their job, and you know it. Moses had a

list too, and his was a good It's in Exodus 4, verses 10-12.

But Moses pleaded with the Lord, O Lord, I'm not very good with

words. I have never been, and I'm not now, even though you

have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get

tangled. Then the Lord asked Moses, Who makes a person's

mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak,

hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go, I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct

you in what to say. Look at what Moses leads with. I'm not very

good with words. I never have been. He's reporting something

he believes about himself, and he's been living with it a long

while. He's 80 years old, keeping sheep on the backside of

a desert, and God is telling him to go stand in front of Pharaoh

and talk. Then, look at God's answer. He never disputes the

assessment that Moses had of himself. He asks the question

back instead. Who makes a person's mouth? The question

moves the whole conversation off of Moses and on to God. God

doesn't tell Moses he's wrong about himself. He tells him the

mouth in question belongs to its maker. a thing God made on

purpose, and God doesn't make mistakes. Then comes the

instruction. Now go. I will be with you as you speak, and I

will instruct you in what to say. Notice what comes first. The

sending comes first, and the help arrives while he's talking.

You trust. You do. Then the help comes. So the question in front

of you is the same one. Who made you? God is asking for obedience,

and he already knows what he can do with you and his help

together. What's been running through your head is not always

about the full picture. Take the next small step. Then trust God

to do the rest. Make the one phone call. Write the first page.

Let him prove himself in the doing, because that's usually

where he does it. Jack went anyway. He enrolled in seminary

and started preaching, stutter and all. He didn't wait to be

fixed first. He leaned on the God who made his mouth, and he

kept stepping into the pulpit Sunday after Sunday. Forty years

later, he's still preaching. He came to see his stutter as the

way Moses could have seen his, that God didn't make a mistake

when he called him, and that the weakness he wanted gone was part

of the plan all along. God doesn't always remove the thing

you're afraid of. Sometimes, he sends you out with it and shows

up in the doing. Look at how Jack's story compares to Moses.

Two men with the same objection, and it came down to the same

body part both times. Both of them were right about themselves,

and in neither case did God fix the thing before he sent the man

out. Jack enrolled and stepped into a pulpit, and he found out

what God could do with a man who showed up stuttering. Four

decades of Sunday is a pretty long answer to a question he

asked once. Here's today's challenge. Write down the thing

you believe God has put in front of you. It only needs to be one

sentence. No hedging. Then, write down the reason you

haven't started it, and be straight about what that reason

is. Now, look at that reason, and ask God what he asked Moses.

Who made this? If the limitation you listed is something he made

or allowed in your life, then he knew all about it when he put

the thing in front of you. And then, do one piece of it today.

Something that takes you maybe under an hour. Not the whole

staircase, just the first step. Father, you asked Moses who made

his mouth, and you already knew the answer when you asked it.

Thank you that you call people who show up with a list of

reasons they shouldn't. for everybody listening who has been

holding an idea for years because they were afraid it

won't work, settle them enough to take one small step this week.

Go with them while they take it, the way you promised Moses you

would. In Jesus' name, amen. This podcast runs on the

generosity of listeners just like you. If Daily Devotions for

Busy Lives has encouraged you, would you consider supporting it

with a one-time gift or by becoming a monthly supporter?

Every contribution helps keep these devotions coming every

week. You can give at DailyDevotionsForBusyLives.com

slash support. Thank you so much. And thanks for joining me on

Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, God sent Moses out

with the same mouth he had been complaining about. Take the next

step and let him show up in the doing. 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.