When mountains loom large ahead

God doesn’t choose the people who are equipped. He equips the people he chooses.

I can’t tell you where this phrase was first coined, but my brother reminded me of it yesterday when, in a moment of feeling sorely overwhelmed by tasks currently on my plate combined with new responsibilities being handed to me in the coming months, my office was threatened with a tidal wave of tears.

It’s easy for day-to-day tasks to turn into an insurmountable mountain when I look too far ahead and evaluate everything based on my own strength and abilities. I begin to feel small, ill equipped, and like the last person on the planet who should be trusted with a job of any importance. But then I remember the fugitive who was tasked with leading over a million people out of captivity while keeping them from destroying each other over internal squabbling and reckless behavior. There was the simple shepherd boy who slew a giant with a stone and led his nation to greatness under his eventual leadership. And then there were two peasant girls, one who became a queen and took her life in her hands to plead the case of her people, and another who humbly told the angel, “Let it be as you have spoken.”

These are just four of countless individuals who chose to look beyond their frailties and foibles to step out in faith — and be used to change the world. I’ve come to realize that each of us are called at some point to stretch beyond ourselves, though only a few seem truly willing to do so. How different our world would be if these people had instead chosen to say, “The task is too great and I am too small!”

Perhaps you’re facing the same feeling in your own lives in regards to your writing. A message has been place on your heart or a story on your fingertips, yet you hesitate because you feel like the last person who should be typing those specific words.

A choice has been placed before us. The question is, will I choose to step out and tackle the mountain a step at a time risking heartache, rejection, and disappointment knowing there is One who walks beside me equipping me with all the tools and skills I’ll need along the way? Or will I hunker back and watch while another soul braves the arduous trek laid out before her and wonder, “Lord, what can’t that person be me?”