Gabe Swing

I am growing weary with my brothers and sisters of the faith who have already given up this earth to the evil one.  I am frustrated by those who have abandoned ship taking with them only those they can fit in their lifeboats.  There are others yet to save!   There are many more who need to live.    Jesus has hope for the people in this world and consequently so do I.   It is my belief that He is already making the change.   He is taking this battlefield for His Kingdom, He is leading the final charge, and He wants to know if we are going with Him.  Well, are we?  I do not believe it is time for mansions in glory yet.  Do you?  

Surely anyone who reads the Scriptures with any degree of seriousness can see that we are called to make a difference.  One cannot open the Bible and argue that it does not call us to reach the lost, to serve the poor, to help those who cannot help themselves.   On every single page we find this message and we are inspired by those who lived it.   LOVE is calling!  There is no denying it.   LOVE is calling you!  LOVE is calling me.   LOVE is calling!  Will we answer?  That remains to be seen.

Some may say what can I do?  How could Jesus use me?   I am aging.  I am too young.  I am insignificant.  I am not smart enough.  I am not talented.  I am poor.  I have too many responsibilities.   I made such a mess of my life Jesus couldn’t possibly use me.  I am alone. I am too far off track to get back now.  I am…, I am…, I am… and so on.   You are absolutely right!   You are a failure.   You are a screwed up mess.  You have nothing of any significance.   I am right there with you, but let us remember the most significant reality, “It’s not about you.”  It is not about me.  It is about Jesus!  It is all about Jesus and what He wants to do through you.  

I recall Moses standing barefoot by the burning bush.   God was calling Moses to fight injustice.  God was calling Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.   Moses was terrified.  Moses felt inadequate, unworthy, and unable for the task given him.  Moses started grasping for straws.  He questioned God time and again hoping he could convince God to go a different route.   It was not that Moses did not believe in the cause, he did.  He knew that the Israelites were suffering.  It knew it was wrong.  He knew they needed God’s help.  He just didn’t think he was worthy of the calling.  He didn’t believe that God could use someone like him.   Doesn’t it seem ironic that Moses standing in God’s Holy Presence still doubted.  I think it was because Moses’ faith was misdirected.  Moses was placing his faith in himself.  Moses could not see beyond his own limitations.  He saw his age.  He saw his inability to speak publicly.  He saw the awesome grandeur of Pharaoh, the most feared and powerful ruler on the planet.  He probably wondered if the Israelites would listen to this simple nomadic shepherd he had become.   Moses’ faith was focused on himself and of course he would be an utter and complete failure.  There is no way he would be able to accomplish this task on his own, that much was obvious.   Even God knew that, but Moses was not supposed to have faith in his own abilities.  He was called to focus his attention on God, The Great “I AM.”  Exodus 2:10-13 gives us a glimpse into the conversation of Moses and God:

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

 Don’t you love the honesty in Moses’ response?  “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”  Haven’t we all felt that way?  It is our plea, but just like in the case of Moses, there is nobody else.  God molded and shaped Moses his entire life for this calling.  God birthed Moses an Israelite so that he would identify with his ethnic race.  God raised Moses in pharaoh’s home to make him comfortable, educated and equipped to stand in pharaoh’s courts.  God gave Moses the bitter taste of injustice when he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave.   God forged Moses’ spirit in the deserted land as an exile.  God trained Moses to be a pastor of people while he shepherded flocks of sheep.   Moses’ entire life had been God’s training ground for the mission He was calling him to accomplish.   Let us not think for a second that God has not worked the same way in our lives.  He has.  There are things God wants to do through you and I that no other individual on the planet can accomplish.   There is nobody else.  Who is better positioned to influence your family than you?  Your neighborhood?  Your  school, place of employment? Your town?  Who has had your experiences in life?  Who else has your passions?  Your burdens? Gifts?  Opportunities?  Who else knows the people you do?  Does anybody have the exact resources that you have?  Who has been specifically genetically engineered to be just like you?  Nobody!  You are not an accident in God’s plan.  He has been molding, training, designing you for something special.  You are uniquely called to make a difference in this world.