Certainly He Will Be With You

If there is anything I've learnt in my life and in my study of the Word of God, it is this: 

God calls the willing, and qualifies the unqualified. 

And with that notion, so much of my life of late has just fallen into place.

There are two elements of this notion I want to extrapolate here. The first is that we may be not be qualified, but being willing is sufficient. The second, is that sometimes God will look at our qualifications and deem us in need of receiving qualification under His own school of thought, rather than utilising those we believe we've already achieved.

Being willing qualifies us:

Where, you may ask, does this concept of being unqualified in earthly eyes, yet worthy in heavenly eyes arise in scripture?

I could cheat this question and say that every single person God ever used was seemingly not fit for the job description He handed them, but pointing out just a couple is well worth it, as it will hopefully help you to see how God wants to use you, no matter what certificates, what experience and what 

You see, the important and key element of God's use of us is not to glorify us. It's to glorify Him through us. Triumph in our struggles is God showing His almighty love and power. Even sending His own son, Jesus, showed us that God knew our potential in spite of the accusations of the adversary. We read in Job 1 that Satan was adamant of the idea that not one person on this earth wanted to serve God, nor were they worthy of being redeemed. God's response to that? Continuing on with the plan of salvation and utilising Job's story, among others, to show that God's love, His Perfect Love, casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

And so, in times when we feel totally out of our comfort zone, out of our league, God beckons us to be an example for His ability to empower, strengthen and qualify us. We needn't be qualified in earthly things. We just need God's approval, His stamp of authenticity running through out hearts and into our actions.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a young teenage girl with nothing earthly that gave her a right to bear and raise the saviour of the world, the king of the universe. David, the most well known king of Israel, was the youngest son of a large family of brothers. The most placid, un-warlike young man whose passions were shepherding and music, not war, male bravado and buttering up royalty such as Saul in order to win the kings favour. Abraham was a nomad from a heavily pagan background who would end up being the father of Israel, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed via his distant descendant, Jesus Christ. Rahab, a prostitute, provided safety and rest for the Israelite spies so that they could enter into Jericho and claim the promised land, and again Rahab was another (importantly, a woman) mentioned in the genealogy of Christ.

Did these people have a wall splattered with certificates, top grades in high school, a social media account booming with followers (or the equivalent 2000+ years ago)? They were qualified in one thing: willingness to serve their God, and their God honoured them. Those who honour God will be honoured by Him (1 Samuel 2:30). These people didn't earn their way to God's desire to use them. God wanted to bring honour to His name through using those who He could claim that His love and belief in them had caused victory over their shortcomings and sin in their own lives. The most beautiful testimony is seeing that which was deemed unworthy become elevated in God's eyes.

I sat yesterday in a job interview noting to the people across the table that I was there in spite of knowing my resume said I probably shouldn't be in comparison to the experience that others who may be applying would no doubt have. But I mentioned something in that discussion that has carried me through of late. I wanted to honour God in the little things and the big things. Luke 16:10 tells us that "whoever is faithful with little will be faithful with much..." We are also told in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we eat, drink, or whatever we do, it should be done for the glory of God. I told the interviewers that I was there to glorify God, whether it be purely in interview, or to establish for myself a role with their community. I was just happy to present my best, and allow God to do the rest.

Being qualified doesn't necessarily equate to the immediate leading of God in that "qualified" area:

The amount of times I've looked at my CV and at a job description and thought to myself "I have it in the bag" is ridiculous. The amount of times I've been humbled by a rejection email is also ridiculous. We look at the whole story of Moses and see that he was brought up in Egyptian schooling, had the best work experience record to be used by God for the purpose of leading an entire enslaved nation out of the most oppressive and powerful nation in the then known world under the most powerful pharaoh in Egyptian history. So what did God do?

He asked the man to go into the wilderness and shepherd sheep. The man had in anger killed an Egyptian and ran off. The kind of behaviour that God needed, the kind of character God would require for the task of saving His people and guiding them to the promised land, was not one that Egyptian education would in the end qualify him for. God had to qualify him for His purpose. It is no use having the grades, the networking status, the power and authority of being adopted into a royal family, if God's plan for you isn't rippling through your veins and in your mind and heart. 

Moses had to be completely retrained, and so often we also do. It was through communion with God, with following the principles of nature and with understanding that all glory belongs to the One who redeems us, that Moses could even begin to facilitate the letting of God's people go. When God finally enlists Moses and calls on him to facilitate the exodus, his response is that he is unworthy, ineloquent, and not fit for the purpose (don't we often respond the same way?) but God appointed support, and encouraged Moses to move in the way that He was empowering Him to. 

When I think of what I am qualified in, or what God may be calling me to do, I often think of Exodus 3:11 where Moses asks "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?". God immediately responds at verse 12 that "Certainly I will be with you...".

The focus for us should not be what we're skilful or qualified in, but rather that qualifications of our own maker. It is not about "who am I?" but rather "who is God?" He is a god that will be with us. Entrusting us the beautiful opportunity to bring people into an endless love with Him. Certainly He will be with you...