What do I bring to the table?
Do you ever struggle with feelings of inadequacy? Or is it just me?
Do you every feel like you can’t boil water? Everyone else seems so competent, confident, together. I can’t even get your laundry put away. My “to do” list keeps growing instead of shrinking.
Are you ever intimidated by the size of the task? The entire world is hurting. The needs loom so large. Does anything I do make any difference at all?
Social media will make you think everyone else has a better life, a stronger marriage, perfect kids, lots of money, a more effective ministry, more exotic vacations—and they have a side gig as a runway model. Comparison will eat your lunch.
One of the things God whispered to me during my last prayer pilgrimage was, “Bring yourself to the table.”
God does not call us to be Marvel superheroes. God will not ask me “How much were you like Moses?”, “How did you compare to Billy Graham or Mother Theresa or Wonder Woman?”
Throughout Scripture, God asks us to bring whatever we have and put it in His hands.
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, " A staff." (Exodus 4:2)
Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." (2 Kings 4:2)
"Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found." (1 Sam 21:3)
"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" (John 6:9)
What do I have to place in God’s hands to be used for the Kingdom?
A staff, oil, bread, fish…?
Education, degrees, or training? Spiritual gifts, fruit of the Spirit, temperament, personality, vision, burdens, talents, interests, and experiences?
What do I bring to the table?
Could God also use my photography, my chocolate chip cookies, my love of remote places, my longing for open ocean, my wacky random connections with total strangers, or my “animal magnetism” that leads to close encounters of the wildlife kind? Doesn’t sound very spiritual. Could God possibly use these?
God doesn’t waste anything. My goal is to be able some day in some measure to say, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4) How freeing it is to open my hands, surrender all I don’t have and all I am not, and give Him all I do have and all I am. The ordinary can truly miraculous in God’s hands. How I need to remember that!
What do you bring to the table?
Next month I will head off for another extended prayer pilgrimage (The Jesus Trip, as I call it). God often calls me away from crowds, people, noise, and busyness to let the dust settle, sit at Jesus’ feet, and truly listen to that still small voice. I have learned that for me, this is not a luxury. This is a necessity. If my calling is to invite people into silence, solitude, and deeper intimacy with the Lord. “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke 5:16) If He needed it, how much more do I??...
Please pray for me as I pull away from the muchness and manyness to be alone with Jesus…
Much love,
Linda