Sometimes I get a little intimidated and overwhelmed by what God has called me to do. I know that in all things He is going to give me the strength to do it, but I must admit I can get intimidated.

Philippians 4:13 says, I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.

God reminded me this morning that if I am not intimidated by what He is calling me to do then it is in my strength and not His. He said let the weak say I am strong.

Joel 3:10 says, Let the weak say I am strong.

If God has called you to do something that does not overwhelm or intimidate you then it might not be from God. Be intimidated by what God has called you to do but know that he is with you and for you and will work in you.

During our 21 day fast we will not watch any tv or movies unless they are Christian movies.   Last night my family and I sat down to read the book of Esther and then watch the movie “One Night With the King.”

During watching this I came to a few conclusions:

God will always use the most ordinary of people to accomplish His purpose.  He will always make sure the right person is in the right place at the right time.

Esther 2:8,9 says, “When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem.  She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.”

Esther 2:15-18 says, When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.  And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality

Also being afraid of taking a risk for God can have disastrous results for us and others.

Esther 4:12-14 says, When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai,  he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

And finally doing extraordinary things for and with God will be remembered for many generations.

Esther 9:29-32 says, “So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.  And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance—  to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation.  Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records”

Joshua 1:5 says, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I really felt the Lord pressing on my heart these two words……”Take Courage.”  As I was praying I was reminded of three people whom God told this too. Let’s look at them:

Joshua:

Joshua 1:6,7, 9, and 18,   Be strong and courageous, Be strong and very courageous, Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go, Only be strong and courageous!

Why did God repeat himself here?  Well Joshua was told to take the Israelites’ into the promised land and did not know he had to defeat 31 kings prior to doing that.  God was encouraging him.

Peter:

Before Peter walked on the water, it says the disciples were terrified when they first saw Jesus on the water and He said to them in Matthew 14:27, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Peter ended up being hung on the cross later in his life and had it done upside down.

Paul:

Acts 23:11 says, “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Why did he tell Paul this?  Check this out in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28;

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

My encouragement to you today is to Take Courage, don’t allow the enemy to take any of your courage away.  Don’t be easily discouraged, don’t be afraid, and don’t show any lack of faith so God can do inside you and through you what you are purposed to do.

Paul was pleading with God in 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 and God answered him with this;

“He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We can plead with God everyday to make something happen (promotions, business success, growth in business), to take something away (pride, depression, laziness), or to remove barriers in our life that might hold us back (strongholds, insufficiencies, lack of money or intelligence).  But it is His strength that will be made perfect in our weakness, in our insults, in our hardships, persecutions and difficulties.

He will give us the strength to do everything through Christ who strengthens us, He has made us more than a conqueror, He is for us and not against us; however the moment we try to take the success into our own hands is the moment we fail.  You see it is in our weaknesses that God gets the glory.  It is in our lack that God gets the glory for the success that we had.

God has challenged me and I want to challenge you today to do something so big that you can’t take the glory for it; it has to come from God.  Do something so big that it will cause Satan to tremble and God to be glorified.  Create a movement inside yourself so you can make a difference in the lives of others and yourself.

Every day is a new day, rejoice, take joy, be happy that you have been given a brand new day.  If you have a roof over your head, electricity, food and the means to get the things you need then you are blessed.  Every day you should wake up with joy in your heart and have the energy spiritually first to seek God then get the energy mentally and physically to do the things God has called you to do.  So many times we can get it backwards…..mentally, physically and then spiritually.  You have to turn that around to the spiritually first and then the mental and physical will follow.

Mark 14:38 says, “The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” (NIV), and the NCV says, “The spirit wants to do what is right but the body is weak.”  And the message says, “Part is eager, ready for anything in God, but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4 says, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Psalm 51:10-12 (Purity Prayer) Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Our fallen human nature wars against the work of God.  We need to remember to have that steadfast spirit of faithfulness and a willing spirit of service.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed?  Have you ever felt that you are trying to take on too much and you just can’t do it all?  I really feel this is a huge way the enemy tries to attack us in feeling that we can’t take on certain things.  Too many times we feel like we can’t take on certain things because we might have too much on our plate.

Now I do believe in complete balance in our lives.  I believe you should be able to balance your time between God, family, work and community development.  I truly believe you should have a day of rest to recoup and get re-energized for your life.  But sometimes we might fall short of what God has for us.  Sometimes we don’t take on as much as we can because the enemy tries to leak into our lives and plant thoughts like, you are already doing too much.

I have had several times in my week where I have been overwhelmed, so I too am dealing with this.  I have even been forgetful in things because I have so much on my plate.

I have a few ideas on what can be done in cases of being overwhelmed:

1) Turning to the word.

Matthew 6:27 says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.”

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.”

2 Timothy 1:7 I have changed and said, “God did not give me the spirit of overwhelm, but of power and of love and of self control….and a sound mind.”

2) Praying to God for strength.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”

3) Take notes on what all needs to be done: this will help you remember all you need to get done and not get you sidetracked on doing something else when a thought comes in while you are already doing something.

4)      Schedule out your weeks: use block scheduling where at certain times of the day you are focused on certain things.

5)      Use your NET (no extra time): like when you are driving, to get caught up on your calls, when working out get caught up on spiritual growth, when waiting for someone or something, get caught up on reading or reaching out to others.

I was listening to Steven Furtick’s message “Make Us Audacious” from the One Prayer series this morning and wanted to share this with you.  In 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan is sharing with his armor-bearer prior to going on a mission to attack the Philistines and he tells him “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, where by many or by few.” (NIV)  He encouraged his armor-bearer even though it was a suicide mission, there were only two swords left in Israel and Jonathan and Saul were the only two left with one.

“I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf.”  Jim Cymbala, Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle and author.

Be encouraged and have the audacity to move on God’s behalf and He will move on yours.  Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.  When you step out in faith and do what He has called you to according to His purpose He will make you more than a conqueror, he will make you the head and not the tail, you will be above and never beneath, He will give you the strength and wisdom to pull off the miraculous.  Just be prepared to step on His behalf and don’t let anything hold you back.  Nothing can stop God.

Too many times people can miss their calling in their life out of fear, doubt and worry.  They are afraid to get out of their comfort zone and move into something that might make them a little uncomfortable.

Here are the questions I have been getting:

• I don’t know what God’s destiny for me is?
• What does God want in my life?
• What should I be doing?
• I know I am supposed to be doing something for the church or for the community but not sure what?
• Where do I fit in?

Many people ask those questions out of their lack of confidence and hesitate or even worse not get involved in making a difference in peoples’ lives.

My answer………….JUST STEP.

Matthew 14:25-30 talks about Jesus and Peter walking on water,

²⁵During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

All Peter did in verse 29 was he stepped out and literally walked on the water, God hardened the water once he stepped.  When he took his eyes of Jesus in verse 30 is when he began to sink, that is an entirely different message.

The message is simple.  If you want to know what you should be doing just step and start somewhere.  When I first started in church I did not go to the pastor and say, “You know I feel called to be a connections pastor.” I said, “Where can I serve?” So I actually started as an usher, then they caught wind that I played the guitar so I started to play on the praise team.  But I was willing to do whatever.  I just wanted to be a part of something bigger than I was. Did I know when I first started going to church I would be a connections pastor….absolutely not.  I just took a step and God hardened the water.

My challenge to you is to just step.  If you want to get involved in the church, just step, get involved in the community, just step.  God will harden the water.