Who Told You That? Series - "I Can't Help the Way I Am"

Devotion written for my church's prayer blog

Who Told You That Series

“I Can’t Help the Way I Am”

Philippians 4:9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

So many excuses popped into my head a few years ago when I was presented with going on my first mission trip.  Thoughts such as: “I’m not cut out for that. I don’t have a big, booming personality. I wouldn’t be good at that, I get nervous when I try to talk to strangers. I can’t help the way I am, that is just the way God made me.”  But I had to ask myself “Who told you that? Who told you, you don’t have what it takes?” The truth is that I was so focused on what I thought I couldn’t do, that I wasn’t focused on what God could do. 

We all have different personality traits.  If we didn’t, it would be one big, boring world.  Each of us are better at certain things than others, and each of us have some challenges that we have to work through.  We can choose to stay “stuck” in those challenges, or we can choose to overcome them being obedient to God and let Him work through us. 

God calls us to learn, receive, hear and see Him, and put our experiences into practice then He promises His peace will be with us.  He also tells us in Mark 16:15 to go into the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. If He calls us to go on a mission trip, minister to a neighbor, preach the gospel, or any number of other things, He will equip us with what it takes to carry out that mission.  He knows our personalities and our challenges, but He also knows His power and that through Him, we can overcome our feelings of “I’m not good enough and I can’t help the way I am.”

Father, Help us to not live with the mentality that “we can’t help the way we are” because the truth is we can observe the things you say and do and imitate you becoming more and more like you.  Please mold and transform us into your image and help us to be obedient to all you call us to do.

Devotion written by Ruth Wittenbrook