You Must Have Me Confused With Someone Else

Several years ago, I was attending a women’s Bible study at my church.  I did not know most of the women in attendance, and, as usual, I was pretty uncomfortable around all those strangers.

After the study ended and I was packing up my belongings, one of the women’s ministry leaders approached me.  She told me that our pastor’s wife would be out of town later that month, and they needed someone to lead that week’s Bible study in her absence.

She told me she had been praying during the study that night, asking the Lord who should fill that position.  She said Jesus directed her to me and asked if I would prayerfully consider leading that study.

As she was speaking, my nerves started doing cartwheels in my abdomen, and my heart began thumping in my chest.

Her request may have seemed like a no-brainer decision for me since I am a Bible study teacher.  But it was not the teaching part that had me concerned.  It was the group discussion afterward!  That element has always been uncomfortable for me, so I avoid it like the plague.  The thought of her offer petrified me but also made me laugh.  Jesus’ sense of humor to choose me for something I felt a complete lack of confidence in was comical yet frightening.  But it confirmed that it was a God-thing because I knew I needed stretching.

I would not say I passed with flying colors during that dreaded group discussion.  But I knew Jesus was with me and used me for His glory regardless of how inadequate I felt.

What about you?  Do you let your feelings of inadequacy stop you from saying “yes” to Jesus when He wants to stretch you?