Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1498196
1 "Not I!" said the cow. Marty Edwards Chances are good that all of us have heard the story of "The Little Red Hen." The Little Red Hen is an American fable first collected by Mary Mapes Dodge in 1874. The story is meant to teach children the importance of hard work and personal initiative. As the story goes, there was a little red hen living on a farm who found some wheat and decided to make bread with it. She asks the other farmyard animals to help her plant it, but they refuse. The hen then harvests and mills the wheat into flour before baking it into bread; at each stage she again asks the animals for help and they refused. Finally, with her task complete, the hen asks who will help her eat the fresh warm bread [...and I'm thinking butter should have been mentioned in the story!)] This time all the animals are eager to join in the feast, but the hen refuses them stating that no one helped her with her work and decides to eat the bread herself. The End. The Bible is full of stories of people who, for one reason or another, did not feel like they were qualified or willing to be used by God. You've probably seen this list before. íNOAH got drunk. ABRAHAM was too old. íISAAC was a daydreamer. JACOB lied. íLEAH was ugly. JOSEPH was abused. íMOSES was a murderer and couldn't talk. íGIDEON was afraid. RAHAB was a prostitute. íSAMSON had long hair and was afraid. íJEREMIAH and TIMOTHY were too young. íDAVID was a murderer and adulterer. íELIJAH was suicidal. ISAIAH preached naked. íJONAH ran from God. NAOMI was a widow. íJOB went bankrupt. PETER denied Christ. íJOHN THE BAPTIST ate bugs. íThe DISCIPLES fell asleep while praying. íMARTHA worried about everything. íMARY MAGDLENE was demon possessed. íZACCHEUS was too small. íPAUL was a murderer. íTIMOTHY had an ulcer. í...and LAZARUS was dead! I actually heard a frustrated pastor of a small church say once, "Excuses are like butts... everybody has one! The thing is, none of us can do everything, but each of us have been spiritually gifted to do something. To deny that would be calling God a liar. Rick Warren (Founder of Saddleback Church in Southern California) took an even closer look at our potential by using the acrostic SHAPE. If you have gone through the BSHDFC mentorship then you are familiar with this: S = spiritual gifts, H = heart, A = abilities, P = personality and E = our life experiences. Each of these together make up our "shape" or perhaps our "tool box" that we can draw from to help discover our careers, but also to discover where we can serve the church - or in Black Sheep's case, our ministry. Some Black Sheep are natural born leaders. Others are better in a "one on one" situation. Some of our members have youth and a strong back in their favor while some of us older barnyard animals have experience and wisdom. None of this matters, however, if at the end of the day, each divine opportunity to do something is answered with a poor excuse. Abraham may have been too old...but he got the job done! Isaac was a daydreamer...or was he a visionary? Joseph was abused...but he overcame it! Jonah ran from God...but he came back. The day I left for college with nothing but a GED, my well-meaning father tried to "encourage" me by saying, "If college doesn't work out for you son, it's alright...you never were college material." But by God's grace and my tenacious and faithful young wife's help I did indeed finish college AND seminary AND...uh, Clown College. Debbie and I moved to the Temecula Valley in 1988 and started the Lamb's Fellowship - and God was faithful! People thought I was NUTZ when I left that growing church and daughter church to start a motorcycle ministry. Some smirked and said under their breath, " Must be a mid-life crisis!" That was 23 years ago. Let me close with these 10 questions. 1. Do you believe God has a specific purpose for your life? 2. Do you believe God has specifically SHAPED you? 3. Do you know what your "SHAPE" looks like? 4. Where have you enjoyed doing ministry work? 5. Where have you or are you serving in your local church? 6. How are you serving your local BSHDFC chapter? 7. Are there any fears keeping you from obedience to God? 8. Have you ever shared your faith with an unbeliever? 9. Have you ever led someone to Christ? 10. Are you aware of any poor excuses that keep you from doing what you might like to do or should do for the ministry? God will complete His purposes with or without us, but what a joy it is to know you are making a difference in the lives of people and in the Kingdom of God. b P.S. I entitled this article, "Not I Said The Cow" because Sheep know better than to pass up a good opportunity to serve the Lord. God bless you my friends. ~Slow Dog