Ifs and Buts

I once had someone tell me that I should stick to playing piano and not sing. It was said very nicely, but still, when you lead worship and someone tells you your voice is not where your gifting is, it hurts.

God has called each one of His children to task. He's prepared good things for us to do, not because He needs slaves, but because He loves to make people happy. You do something good for someone and not only are they happy, you are also happy. It is more blessed to give than to receive. I think most of us have heard that, even outside of the context of church or scripture.

It's true.

There is much good to do in this world, and many hands available, but it seems there are so few who actually jump into the mess to help clean it up. Why? Maybe we're like Moses, called to speak, but not a good speaker.

Remember the story? The LORD calls to Moses from a burning bush and tells him to go and speak to the king of Egypt, to Pharaoh himself. Moses' response?

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”

Moses gave his "but" to the Lord. We all do, I think, at times. "But Lord, I've never even attended bible college ...", "But Lord, I'm not a singer!"

And we have just as full a supply of ifs. "What if they don't listen to me?",  "What if they find out just how uneducated I am?", "What if they tell me I can't sing?" But, if, but, if, but, if. Do you think God ever gets tired of that?

I know I do. I know I have. There were a few times I would ask my children to do something when they were young and hear, "But Dad, I'm busy!", or "If I do that I'll lose my place in my TV show!"

Well, thank God, He's patient (more so than us!) and willing to work with us. And just as Aaron's staff ate up all the snakes that Pharaoh's magicians created from their staffs, so does Gods ifs and buts overtake our ifs and buts.

We say, "What if God is ashamed of me"

God says, "If you approach my throne, I'll provide grace and mercy."

We say, "But I'm exhausted, I have nothing left to give."

God says, "But with me, all things are possible."

For every if we offer and every but we counter with, God has an answer back. And it all has to do with His sufficiency. The One who calls us is sufficient. Sufficient to give us the strength we need. Sufficient to know what we can and can't handle. Sufficient to know the big picture that we aren't seeing. He knows us completely, but loves us perfectly. And that same God, calls us into action.

Let go of your ifs and your buts and start focusing on His ifs and buts.