I was never consciously called into pastoral ministry. I was never consciously called into church planting. Fortunately, we have a God who works sovereignly to orchestrate His purposes. Indeed, \u201cwe are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand\u201d (Eph. 2:10). Because I was too thickheaded to discern a direct call to step into ministry, the Lord arranged situations and life seasons in order to back me slowly into the center of His will.<\/p>\n
Knowing that this is His will and my life\u2019s calling, I still (19 years into full-time ministry) regularly do the Mosaic double-glance into the heavens, stating, \u201cLord, I think you\u2019ve got the wrong guy.\u201d I\u2019m hyper-conscious of my weaknesses, failures, and indwelling sin, even without the aid of the occasional church member \u201cblessed\u201d with the ability to point them out. The weight of these, along with Satan\u2019s wily warfare reminders, can leave me pretty certain: I\u2019m the wrong guy for the task.<\/p>\n
Without diving further into the health of my self-esteem, I want to drive immediately to the punchline: All of us are the wrong guy, but our God is the right God. When Moses argued he was the wrong guy (Ex. 4:1,10-16) the Lord didn\u2019t reassure Moses about Moses\u2019 stellar abilities. He affirmed Moses\u2019 verbal limitations (4:11) and then lifted Moses\u2019 gaze to His supreme ability: \u201cNow therefore go, and\u00a0I will be<\/em>\u00a0with your mouth.\u201d Moses was the wrong guy whose success was guaranteed by God\u2019s strength for God\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n Gideon\u2019s story is the same. When called to action by the Lord, he was fully conscious that he was the least significant man belonging to a family in the weakest clan in Manasseh (Judg. 6:15). He absolutely was the wrong guy to lead an army. God\u2019s response to this reality? \u201cI will be with you<\/em>, and you shall strike the Midianites\u201d (6:16). Again, God didn\u2019t seek to bolster Gideon\u2019s self-esteem. He lifted Gideon\u2019s gaze to His supreme ability. Gideon was His workmanship, created for good works beforehand, and those good works were not dependent on Gideon\u2019s right-ness for the assignment, but on God\u2019s supreme rightness to build His Kingdom through willing, obedient vessels.<\/p>\n I can and must continue to improve my leadership and my growth in holiness, but I\u2019ll never be the right guy. I\u2019ll never be able to justify, sanctify, or glorify lost souls, but I know the Right Guy who can. I\u2019ll never be able break the chains of addiction or foolish marriage habits, but I know the Right Guy who can, and He goes with me. I\u2019ll never be able to preach or counsel in a way that directs the Holy Spirit to revive dry souls, ut I know the Right Guy who does \u2014 and He died and rose again to ensure that His mission to reclaim His people cannot fail.<\/p>\n