When you think about it, the invasion of this planet by God in the form of a tiny baby born on the wrong side of the tracks is ridiculously subtle.
But it wasn’t so subtle for a young Jewish girl named Mary. After she got over an angel scaring the daylights out of her—and by the way, have you ever noticed that angels always start off with “Don’t panic!”—she responded with an open heart. It reads in Luke chapter 2 that Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants.”
Mary was an ordinary person distinguished by her availability.
God is not looking for skilled people. He’s not looking for the sharpest I.Q.’s. He’s not looking for the superstars.
I find it interesting when people say “Wouldn’t it be great if so-and-so became a Christian…they are so talented.” God doesn’t need talent. He doesn’t need slick salespeople. He just needs people who say “I am willing.” He’s only looking for availability. He’s looking for a room in a heart to be born in. That’s all. He’ll take a stable. And honestly, that’s what most of us are. We think we’re the Hilton, but we’re all Motel 6’s.
Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace; a soul generated by love.”
How available are you? It’s amazing how many times in the Bible we read this simple responsive prayer: here I am.
When God called to Abraham to test him, Abraham responded with “Here I am.”
When the angel of God spoke to Jacob in a dream, Jacob said, “Here I am.”
When Moses was stunned by the sight of an unconsumed burning bush, he said, “Here I am.”
When Isaiah was overwhelmed by the wonder of God, he said, “Here I am…send me.”
In a prophetic passage regarding the messiah who was to come, God later speaks to Isaiah and says, “…My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’” ISAIAH 52:6
The wonder of Incarnation is that God made Himself available to us. Can we have any other response than our own availability?
What if before personality tests, spiritual gifts assessments, leadership checklists, and any other discernment processes, we had a simple way of measuring our own availability? What if we leaders first began to teach our people how to hear God…and then suggest availability as the primary way of discerning his will?
Dave Workman | The Elemental Group
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