Equipping for the Task

Can you relate to any of these common experiences?

• Discovering a great-sounding recipe only to find that it calls for some obscure (but deal breaking!) ingredient that you don’t have?

• Planning to build something only to realize that there’s a necessary tool or piece of hardware you haven’t got on hand? (Though this can be a welcome reason to buy a newly discovered “essential” tool)

• Being told, “Go make disciples” or, “Lead people to Jesus,” but sensing that you either haven’t seen that process done, or aren’t equipped to do it yourself, or maybe both.

Few things are more exhilarating than being used by God to draw people into His kingdom. Yet few things can be more disheartening than the sense of defeat that results from being recruited or assigned to a task you see yourself as completely unqualified or unequipped for.

My wife has reflected on the fact that so often, the big challenging things we look at and say, “Wow, that’s amazing; I could never do that!” are actually the cumulative result of a series of simple steps.

She does leatherworking and sews handbags, and I appreciated the connection here when she shared that it all starts with a pair of scissors or a rotary cutter. Then she begins by cutting some simple squares. That’s not so hard, right? All the exciting and complicated stuff seen in the final product comes from the simplest and humblest of origins. Then incremental development leads to a stunning final creation.

Sort of like just saying, “yes.”

Yes.
I’ll sign up for a 30-day Discipleship Challenge.

Yes.
I’ll invest some of my energy to make a list of 30 people to pray for and with.

Yes.
I’ll brainstorm a list of 25 people who are distant from the kingdom, and pray for them too.

Yes.
I’ll carve out a block of time in my day to connect with God and absorb His Word.

Yes.
I’ll engage in something a little uncommon and uncomfortable and go with a friend or two on regular prayer-walks.

Yes.
I’ll cut out the simple, basic squares, and ask the Lord to stitch them together into a stunning final creation.

What I love (and think you will too) about the 30-Day Discipleship Challenge, is that it arms you with incremental growth steps, steps that become cumulative. They add up! Not sure what it would even look like to “Go make disciples”? Don’t worry, it’s simply but thoroughly sketched. Not sure what tools or ingredients are required? Don’t worry, they’re sprinkled throughout, with Scriptures, videos, and insights.

These simple “cut squares,” become springboards for lives lived more ready for and responsive to our call to make disciples. And rather than a sense of defeat at being asked to do something you feel unequipped for, you may find yourself instead with a growing sense of confidence and expectancy:

Just what might God do today through my simple, consistent act of obedience?

Sign up here to start the 30-Day Disciple Challenge yourself:
https://moredisciples.com/signup/