I am sure that you have heard the phrase so many times that God does not want our ability but our availability. That is so true and it is the difference between a mission work growing or failing. Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me..."  In and of themselves, the disciples were powerless. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them they were mighty witnesses for the Lord as seen in Acts 2. Peter, in Acts 3 when he healed the lame man, said that it was not his power by which he healed the man, but it was by the power of God. When Christ was here on earth He gave power unto His disciples to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons (Mark 3:15). The disciples could not have done this if Christ had not given them the power to do so first. Christ said in John 15: 4-5 that without Him we can do nothing. It is also quite clear from the scriptures that man cannot save man. Only God can. Yes, we are His messengers, but God is the one that saves the sinner. 

While in Bible college, I heard so many times students ask why missionaries aren't the greatest speakers. I'm not writing to address that issue, but let me simply answer that question by asking one of my own. Why would God send some one who is not at all a good speaker to preach the gospel over seas? Why doesn't God send the "best" speakers as missionaries? Well, if winning souls had to do with your ability to preach then you have reason to glory in yourself and not in God. You wouldn't need God to establish churches would you. It would be all up to man and his abilities. God doesn't always use such men. Many times He uses the most feeble of us to do the greatest work for Him because it is then that we give glory to God for we realize that we could never have done it in our own strength or ability. 

When my father first went to the mission field, he had only one year of language school behind him and he was asked to take over a small work that had no shepherd. Dad stumbled through his first sermon cutting it short and not really sure he got the points across correctly. That morning a man accepted Christ as his Saviour. The man had only been there to visit (he was actually drawn there by God ) and after his conversion, he returned to his home up in the mountains. He only had a third grade education, but he took a Bible with him bound to read it and spread the good news. Dad didn't hear much from him, but years later this man invited dad up to the mountains to preach at his church. To dad's amazement, this man with just enough education to be able to read had started two churches in two villages. Each church had between fifty and sixty believers. They were hungry for the word and couldn't get enough from dad's week long preaching. Show me a highly, qualified, preacher or speaker that can do that. This was truly all of the Lord.

Are you refusing to be used of God because of your " inabilities?" If God wants you to have abilities He will give you some. But more importantly, God wants your availability to serve Him in any capacity that He so chooses. Maybe you are discounting someone for the mission field because you don't think that they have enough abilities to serve the Lord. You better rethink that one. God can use us all as Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." 

If you feel it would be an encouragement or a blessing to someone, you have the Stilwell's permission to forward this article in its entirety. They just ask that you include this note at the bottom of the article with their name and e-mail address (Jeff and Kim Stilwell, jkstilwell@juno.com) in case someone wishes to contact them. Thank you.

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