Are You Willing?

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go?”And I said, “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”
Isaiah 6:8 

I discovered, VERY early in Basic Training, when you Drill Sergeant asks for a volunteer it's best to volunteer or else you will be dropped for push-ups and THEN you will be voluntold.  I was reminiscing with a friend about those days, all we learned, all we endured, all the pranks, all the punishments, and then Joe asked me, "Why did you volunteer? Is sure wasn't for the money or the glamor, and there was no fame, so why did you volunteer?'  I thought about it because it had been a few years (ahem, ahem), and I said, "Because I wanted to become a better person."  Joe looked a bit stunned and said, "No, you bonehead, why did you volunteer for ministry?"

My first thought was, "You think I volunteered for ministry?" But I figured that would be the wrong approach.  I explained that ministry is something I knew, deep within me, that God has been preparing me for.  I told him that I was terrified and felt (still feel) terribly under qualified, but I trust and am still learning to trust God.

There is an adage which says, "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called."  And it is true.  When God called Saul to ministry, Saul was not even remotely qualified.  He spent 3 years in the wilderness learning from God.  You see, God doesn't expect us to be perfect.  He knows quite well that we don't have all the answers or the ability or the courage or even a detailed diagram of His plan for us.  All God wants is for us to step up and say, "Here I am, I'll go."  Then God will take care of the rest.  We all have a mission.  We all have a ministry.  God has that planned for each of us, we need to be available.