I find myself every now and then looking at my three little ones thinking, “God, what were You thinking making me the mother of these three beautiful blessings?” I am grateful, tired, overwhelmed, in awe, exhausted, caught up in my own shortcomings, wondering how to get a message across without shouting, feeling guilty for shouting until I finally give up the battle in my mind because really, “what was He thinking?”
And the amazing thing is that it is never too long after my moment of weakness that I can hear that gently Voice on the inside echo in my heart, “But it’s because I love you.” And it is then that I realize even when I struggle to believe in myself or feel overwhelmed by my circumstances, God, my Daddy God, believes in me, and if He thinks I can, who am I to say I cannot?
Maybe for you the mountain that seems too high to climb is not motherhood, but a job, a project, a relationship or a purpose that feels way above your fireplace that leaves you thinking, “God, who am I to be worthy to do what You ask of me?”
Can I tell you what He says to each of us asking Him that question?
He says, “I made you in my image. I am in you My child. I am with you. And with Me, everything is possible. So go on, climb that mountain, take that chance, love that child, forgive that person, because I AM with you.”
When you allow yourself to listen to those words and let it sink into your heart, you find new strength because you begin to understand that your ability to face and conquer whatever is in front of you is not because of you but in fact it is in spite of you as it is all possible because Jesus is with you.
You are never alone. You always have a plus one.
Moses faced a similar predicament when God gave him the task to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses, like you and I often do, misunderstood what lied ahead. He thought it all depended on him and his abilities and he was all too aware of his shortcomings so he concluded that God had to have it all wrong. He must have had someone else in mind when He asked Moses to do that.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 GW)
But God was not oblivious to Moses’ shortcomings but He knew that Moses was merely going to be His instrument to fulfil His purpose. It was not up to Moses to make things happen but it all depended on God. And He was able.
God answered, “I will be with you…” (Exodus 3:12 GW)
Those words should have been enough to assure Moses that he will be fine. However, Moses, still caught up in his own shortcomings and not sure how he was going to explain this out of character act of bravery, he replied to God,
“Suppose I go to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13 GW)
But God never doubts His purpose for us as He knows He is the one ultimately bringing everything to pass. So His response to Moses was simply this:
… “I Am Who I Am. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:-14 GW)
In a similar way God is saying to me and you that He is with us, He is the one that has sent us on a journey of His greater purpose in our lives and He has faith in us because He sees Himself in us and He knows what He is capable of. Our shortcomings cannot limit Him.
He made no mistake to place that mountain before us because He has no intention leaving us by ourselves because He is with us and with God all things are possible (Luke 1:37).
Let words from the song Be still by Kari Jobe’s ring true in our souls:
“Be still my soul, be still…
Be still I know He is God
He is here, He is here
Be still I know He is God
He is here, he is here”
Maretha Retief