Miriam's Hope (Hastings, NE)

"Natural ability has nothing to do with service. Consequently, there is never any thought of 'Oh well, I am not fitted for this.'" ~ Oswald Chambers, 20th Century evangelist

God is quite oftentimes using our inabilities to reach others. Often, our notions of service push us toward certain aspects that we think we should be doing instead of what God desires us to do. Take Paul for example -- a man of colossal intellect and smarter than anyone in the room. He studied at the feet of Gamaliel, and yet he wasn't sent to the educated Jews to entertain long dissertations about the minute details of Scripture. No, he was sent to the Gentiles, the unlearned -- those who had never head much about the risen Christ. And so Paul went to the city of Corinth:

"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 NIV

What an honor to put aside our own desires and our won pursuits to simply do as Jesus is commanding us. We get to leave all of our ideas and notions of how ministry should look, and we put it in the hands of the one who sent us. We are commissioned. We are sent as a people to reach those around us, and it is no excuse to claim that we are not equipped for this work. And we should surely refrain from thinking that if we haven't experienced the same struggle as others that we somehow cannot help them.

To take an argument from economist Milton Friedman: "Not one of us would require a cancer doctor to have had cancer before they can help us!"

We don't have the ability -- He does! All need is the availabilty!

~ Luke & Corina Kliewer, Miriam's Hope