If I Was Choosing, I Wouldn't Pick Me.

Two weeks of camp are done.  This summer is flying by at warp speed.  I have never had so much fun, learned so much, and felt so close to God as I do right now.  There are so many, many things I've learned in the past several weeks.  I've learned how to use power tools, how to share my testimony of what God has done in my life, how to navigate around Memphis, how to salsa dance, how to politely refuse to give my number out to junior high boy campers, and how to love people out of the overflow of God's love for me.

But in all of that, I think the biggest lesson that I've learned in the past month is this:  God doesn't call those who are equipped; He equips those whom He calls.  I'm really bad at construction.  Most days, I have no idea what I'm doing.  Before this summer, I'd never laid a shingle, never installed drip edge, and never used a jigsaw or a reciprocating saw.  I didn't even know what those things were!  If you had told me six months ago that I'd be spending my summer on a roof in the inner city of Memphis, I would have laughed at you.  But every day, I am reminded of God's grace for all of my shortcomings.

Despite my inadequacy, I've seen God do amazing things.  The first week that campers were here, I had the opportunity to work with a really amazing group.  They were all from a school here in Memphis, and several of them were from the very neighborhoods that we are working in.  They all grew so much during the week.  Despite the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, they all shared with me at the end of the week what God had done in their lives.  One girl opened up and shared with us some struggles that she had never told anyone in her whole life.  Another girl told us about her broken family and all of the hardships that came with growing up in a home like that.  And they all came away from SOS with a better understanding of the gospel, of who Jesus is, and of who they are in Christ.  After hearing those stories at the end of the week, it was so obvious to me that God had worked in their lives despite me.  He didn't need me in order to change them, but He allowed me to spend a week with them.  He equipped me to have those conversations.

If I was choosing, I wouldn't pick me.  I would be the last person I wanted on a team to go roof a house.  I would be the last person I wanted on a team to go share the gospel with people who are lost.  But God picked me.  He didn't pick me because I'm good at talking with people, and He most certainly didn't pick me for this job because I'm good at construction.  He picked me because He knew that He is powerful enough to equip me to do whatever He needed me to do.

So this is my challenge to whoever is reading this:  don't say no to God because you feel inadequate to do what He wants you do.  Follow wherever God is leading, and hold on for the amazing ride that will follow.  When you let go of all the ideas and plans that you have for your life and just allow God to equip you to do what He wants you to do, your fears melt away and you are filled with such joy that can only come from being in the center of God's will.