For Such a Time as This

 July 14, 2024

Sunday

Those who walk with God, walk with Him humbly or they don't walk with God. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. It is extreme grace to be able to walk with God. If you are anything like me, you have heard stories of great people who walked with God and did great things. You may have read of DL Moody or Charles Spurgeon or Hudson Taylor and thought they were great men because they had a greatness that was endowed upon them at birth. Surely, you have read the story of John, the Baptist and thought they must have been something like him. If that is true then the rest of us are off the hook. We can't do great things so why should we bother ourselves with them?

Yet, when we read the stories of God's calling, we see people who did not aspire to greatness nor did they think of themselves as great. When Moses was called He asked: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" He clearly didn't see himself as endowed with the greatness that God could see in him.

When the angel called Gideon to confront the Midianites, he replied: "O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest  in my father's house." Again, we see someone who doesn't know his greatness. We see God calling humble people to do the really significant things.

Now, before I go on let me say this: I have never known a humble person who knew he was humble. So, if you think that you aren't up to the task that God has for you, you may just be in the best place you can be. When you know that you can't do it but must do it you are forced to rely on God's strength and work. This is the most powerful thing we can do.

Sometimes people won't answer the call of God because they can't imagine that God would call them. They think: "I'm nothing special. God would never call me to do something special." But if you were to assess where you are and what you are doing right now, couldn't God call you to do something that only you could do because He has placed you where you need to be? Maybe the problem isn't that God hasn't called you but that you wouldn't listen because you saw yourself as nothing special when God called you to something special.

Is this the time for God to do something great through you? I believe that the answer is, "Yes!" I don't know what God has called His people to do other than make disciples. I do know that you may disciple someone who will change the lives of thousands. I do know that God could call you to personally change the lives of thousands.

In the Book of Esther, Haman has derived a plot to eliminate the Jews. Mordecai knows of this plot and comes to Esther to thwart Haman's plans. She is Queen but that doesn't mean that she can make the King do as she wishes. Mordecai knows that God will preserve the Jews. As he comes to her he asks:

 Esther 4:14 (NASB 2020) ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

For such a time as this, are you called by God to do something great? I think so. You may be the reason I wrote this blog today.