When I Want to Excuse Myself from God's Calling
- March 22, 2017
- by
"Di 'ko kaya."
When i was a bit younger in faith, this was my favorite excuse to God whenever He tries to call me out for something that would require adjustment or growth. When the responsibility overwhelms me and corrections overflow from left to right and I can't seem to be moving the way I want to move and the circumstances seem to not move in the way He promised would go, It's easier for me to just let go of my paddle and let the waves overtake me. Bat ko pa pahihirapan sarili ko, I won't get there anyways. Then, while I try to divert God's attention into how I cannot do what He asks of me, I will try to keep His focus on it, by my forever favorite supporting statement...
"Iba nalang... Tay, iba nalang..."
and from there, I can even imagine Him giving me that are-you-kidding-me look, from my head to my toe back to my head and be telling me...
"Nak, don't me" lol jk.
"Nak, wag ako..."
Isn't funny, how this excuse is not new to Him anymore?
Moses tried it...
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” -Exodus 3:11
“Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” -Exodus 3:13
“Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ” -Exodus 4:1
“Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” -Exodus 4:10
“But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” -Exodus 4:13
So did Gideon...
He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” - Judges 6:15
and look, Jeremiah did too.
"But I protested, ‘Oh no, Lord, GOD! Look, I don't know how to speak since I am only a youth'" (Jeremiah 1:6)
This excuse-making thing is just too mainstream that I can even imagine God, sitting on His throne, rolling His precious eyes upon our insecurities and lacking, sinasabayan ang bawat pagbukas ng bibig natin habang binabanggit natin ang mga salitang.... "Hindi - ko - kaya..."
talaga ba? then He be like...
"O son of man... wala na bang iba? Wala na bang iba?..."
From Adam down to our generation, we never ran out of excuses to give. But apparently, He is not just the God who provides us everything we will be needing, and everything He requires for the call, He is also the God who loves growth, so He ain't buying any of it.
Here are some of the answers He gave to some of the Bible's excuse-makers:
And He said, “Certainly I will be with you..."
Exodus 3:12
The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
Exodus 4:11-12
But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you..."
Judges 6:16
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,”
Jeremiah 1:7–10
God may be calling us out for something greater. Something wilder. Something deeper. Something higher. and If you are thinking of excusing yourself once again, come on... tama na.
He knows what He is doing, He knows where He is calling you out to go and why He is calling you out specifically. Yung tipong, out of everyone, yung talagang ikaw pa. Ikaw na ayaw ng ayaw, Ikaw na laging nagtuturo na "Tay, iba nalang."