Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Have you ever been told you’re not good enough, that you don’t have what it takes? In life it happens over and over again. Tony Bennett, one of my favorite singers, was once told he didn’t have the voice to make it in the music business. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time was cut from his high school team as a sophomore because he wasn’t big enough or good enough to play with the varsity squad. Abraham Lincoln, who most people consider America’s greatest president, was ridiculed and criticized so often and so ruthlessly he once said it made him feel like a dog. When he delivered one of the most heart-stirring speeches of all time, the Gettysburg Address, most journalists of his day criticized it as being unworthy of the solemn occasion. Apparently, all these were more than good enough.
There was a man in the Old Testament by the name of Jepthah. One day his half-brothers ran him away from his home in Gilead because, being the son of a prostitute, he wasn’t good enough to be a member of the family or have any part in the inheritance. While living in another region, Jepthah became a great warrior and acquired many followers. When the Ammonites attacked Gilead, their leaders came looking for Jepthah to be the commander of their army. After he led them in victory over their enemies, not only was he good enough then to be a member of any family, they even made him the ruler of all Gilead. In the end, who determines who is good enough and who isn’t? It is God!
I am reminded of a story many of you are familiar with. It is about a woman who yearned to become a member of a very exclusive church in her city. Confronting the pastor or it’s leaders about the possibility of becoming a member, they all kept giving her the traditional “don’t call us we’ll call you” line. She finally gave up and one night, with a broken heart she cried to God telling Him how badly she had wanted to join and they never let her in. He replied: “Don’t feel badly my child, they’ve never let me in either.”
Child of God, don’t believe it when somebody tells you you’re not good enough, that you don’t have the talent or the intelligence or the voice or the brains; you can probably guess who’s behind all that. Anybody can have one or all of these things, but if they don’t have the heart, it’s as if they have nothing at all. Believe instead what God says about you: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)It matters little if you’re not good enough for others, as long as you’re good enough for God.
Memory verse for the week: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
