Pastor John D Jakes

I have a suspicion. I don’t think we ever grow out of the terrible twos. Wait, no, I do think that we grow out of those terrible twos. But, we exchange them for something different. We exchange them for the terrible “toos”.

Do you know what type of ‘toos’ I mean? We think, “I’m too old.” Or, “I’m too young.” We think that we are too sinful or too dumb. We imagine that we are too simple or too broken. We are always too something.

Moses thought this. He told God, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) Moses. A man that we see as an example of a person who follows God faithfully started that adventure by telling God that he was too bad at speaking to lead God’s people. Isn’t that something? A man who would deliver the speeches that laid the foundation for both Judaism and Christianity believed that he was too poor in the area of speaking in public!

In the months leading up to the birth of Jesus a man declared that he and his wife were too old. Zechariah said to God’s angel, “‘How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.’ The angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.’” (Luke 1:18-20)

What about you and me? Are you ‘too’ something? When you hear your preacher ask your church to follow God deeper, do you always assume that he must be talking to someone else who is more spiritually mature? When you read in the Bible about a person saying yes to God in some profound way, do you wish you could be like that but believe that it could never happen for you? Moses told God that he couldn’t lead because he couldn’t speak. God should really send someone else. Zechariah told the angel that he and Elizabeth were just too old to have a child. They couldn’t possibly raise the boy who would become John the Baptist. It’s too late for them – at least he thought so. For all 3 of these people God believed otherwise! In fact, just to underline the point for him, Zechariah lost his voice for nine months because of his ‘too-ness.’ Yet, we know the end to both stories. Moses led the people for 40 years. Zechariah and Elizabeth did have a boy. Their son did become the prophet of his day that would announce that the Messiah had come.

Hear this today – it is time we grow out of the terrible ‘toos’. It’s time to embrace the words of the prophet Isaiah. Do you know what he said? He said, “Here am I, send me!” This week, as you are challenged by God to follow Him deeper, say with me, “Send me!” Don’t dismiss yourself as a receiver of the work of God. Volunteer to be His next great work. Ask to be used. Asked to be changed. Cry out, “Send me!”

Something to think about,

Pastor John