REALSample

I Am Qualified

By Kyle Fox

A venti black coffee and a bathroom break. That’s all I wanted as my wife and I hurried into the Huntsville, Texas, Starbucks for a quick pit stop during a long road trip.

And then as I rushed into Starbucks, God pointed to someone I should talk to. “But God! I’m technically still on vacation!” You would have thought I was a five-year-old just asked to clean his room by the way I responded. In the time it took the barista to pour my coffee, I told God all the reasons why I should not talk to this person.

“He’s going to think I am weird.” “He probably wants to be left alone.” “We need to get back on the road.” And last, but not least: “What could I possibly say to this person that might help him?” I fought it—hard. We made it to the car when I turned around and went back inside.

I awkwardly sat down at the guy’s table and asked how I could pray for him. I’ll never forget the look of relief on his face. He told me he went there that morning to pray and shared that he had anxiety about a decision he had to make. Not only did I pray with him, I also shared that my wife and I had walked through what he was facing. In that moment, God used a stranger from North Richland Hills to remind this man he was not alone. God even told me to mail him a particular book a couple weeks later.

Looking back, it wasn’t my insecurity or excuses that almost kept me from approaching him; it was doubting my qualification.

Moses felt far from qualified when God told him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. There’s a well-known quote, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” We tend to think of qualification in a broad sense: extensive training, career experience, or an advanced degree. What if we walked in confidence knowing God uniquely qualifies us for every situation in which He places us?

You know that nudge you feel in those moments? What if that nudge is a direct result of someone else’s prayers? What if the only distance between a stranger and their breakthrough is the distance between you and that person? What if, in that moment, God chose you to bring a little bit of heaven into their situation? Our feelings of doubt can disable us. Feelings lie to us. We are at our best when we stop relying on how we feel and start relying on the God who fills us. Allow God to lead you today, and if you’ll obey, it could change someone’s life. It might even change yours!

Prayer

Lord, thank You for choosing to use me to represent You. Help me to trust You and not doubt my unique qualification. Give me a lens that sees opportunities You set before me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8