Deep in the heart of every man I’ve ever met lurks a daunting question that casts a shadow over every major challenge we ever face: Am I up to this?
When I went to take the test for my driver’s license… When I enrolled in college… When I bought the ring to propose… When my babies came along… Am I up to this? Or am I destined for failure? Since I’m probably not up to this, maybe I should go ahead and sabotage it.
Such are the thoughts that, at least subconsciously, go through the heads of us men as we make decisions in life. I’m sure women struggle with it too, but I’m speaking out of my own experience here. Some men sabotage by shirking responsibility and self-medicating through addictive behavior—drugs, alcohol, porn, gaming, etc. Others just go numb, becoming “yes” men to the tyranny of mediocrity.
For some who have already made the tragic choice of shutting down and checking out, this is a call to repentance and revival. For those still wrestling with the decision, it’s a call to arms.
As I coach ministry leaders, I hear it in their voices too. I started planting this church… I’ve stepped into a church needing to transition… We’ve launched a capital campaign… Am I up to this?
Yep. You are.
Before you think I’m going all positive-thinking on you, know that I agree with the Scriptures which declare that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). Apart from the One who is the Vine, I’m a dying branch (John 15). Without him, I am nothing. But with him and through him and because of him, everything is different.
Let me just drop a few reasons why you are indeed up to the tasks God has set before you to accomplish.
You Were MADE for This
By virtue of the Designer’s intention, we’ve been born into this world possessing what we need as humans to cope with a human world. God wired us for the challenges of life. And while we universally rebel and retreat into sin, we’re still designed to be adequate for the tasks of life. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. You were selected, from the womb, for all of the assignments God has in store for you.
You Were Re-made for This
If you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you’ve been born again, made right, freed forever from condemnation, spared from God’s wrath and totally re-created as a masterpiece that puts on display the powerful, fruitful grace of God. You were broken, headed in the wrong direction and destined for eternity apart from God. Now, you’re on the right track. Your nature has been transformed. You were born again for the mission ahead.
