What’s Your Excuse?

 

By Andrea Merrell

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. 

2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV

Excuses. We all have them.

I can remember a few times over the years when God asked me to do something, and I gave Him every possible reason in the book why I couldn’t, shouldn’t, or wouldn’t. They all sounded legitimate and convincing—at least to me.

Looking through the Bible, I see that I’m not alone.

Let’s start with Moses. He tried his best to talk God out of using him to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, claiming to be “too slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 40:10 NIV). Jeremiah claimed to be too young to fulfill God’s calling (Jeremiah 1:6), and Isaiah whined that he was unfit to do God’s bidding (Isaiah 6:5).

And what about Ananias? When God told him to go lay hands on Saul of Tarsus, Ananias said, “But, Lord …” (Acts 9:13-14).

Thankfully, each of these men finally obeyed. Otherwise, the results and the stories we read today could have been drastically different.

The truth is God never calls us to do anything He does not fully prepare us for, even when we feel completely inadequate for the job. He does not call the equipped; He equips the called.

The Word for You Today says, “When God gives you an instruction or an assignment, it will always require His involvement, His strength, His guidance, and His provision.”

Remember, as a child of God, we don’t have to be smart enough, strong enough, or qualified enough to do what He asks of us. We never have to face things alone because our sufficiency is from God.

Are you doing what God has asked you to do? If not, what’s your excuse?

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Miles.