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I've spent most of my life thinking I'd be ready later.
Ready to lead something. Ready to speak about my faith without flinching. Ready to send the message to the friend who's struggling. Later, when I'd read more, prayed more, healed more. The list never finished. The day never came.
This week's theme: Known.
Today, the fifth name. Sent.
SENT
There's a particular voice in the head of someone who's been told, often without words, that they're not the kind of person God uses.
It tells you ministry, mission, being sent, those are for the gifted ones. The articulate ones. The ones with the testimony, the platform, the natural ease with people. You're not them. You have your own problems. You barely have your own life together.
The voice rarely tells you outright that you're unqualified. It just keeps you in a holding pattern. You'll be ready later. The day never comes.
Then Jesus stands on a hillside with eleven men and says this.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Worth pausing on the Greek here.
The word translated "go" is poreuthentes. It's a participle, not an imperative. The most accurate translation is closer to "as you go" or "while going." Jesus isn't saying drop everything and become a missionary. He's saying as you go through your ordinary life, make disciples. The commission is woven into the school run, the office, the gym, the conversation with your neighbour. It's not reserved for the qualified.
And the qualification clause is the last sentence. Not your gifting. Not your readiness. Not the absence of your problems. His presence.
The angel found Gideon hiding.
Israel was being raided by the Midianites at the time. People had taken to threshing their grain in winepresses, in caves, anywhere the enemy couldn't see them. Gideon was in a winepress, beating out wheat, when an angel appeared and said, "the Lord is with you, mighty warrior."
The phrasing matters. The angel didn't say the Lord could one day make you a mighty warrior, if you sort yourself out. He said it as a fact. About a man hiding from his enemies in a winepress. While he was still hiding.
Gideon protested. He listed his disqualifications. "My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." He had researched this.
God did not contradict him. God did not say actually Gideon you're undervaluing yourself. God said, "I will be with you."
That was the entire qualification. Not Gideon's strength. God's presence.
Moses had a speech impediment. David was a kid out with the sheep. Paul had killed Christians. Peter had publicly denied Christ. Each was sent, not because they had earned the role, but because God needed them.
Your unfinished healing isn't the disqualification you think it is. Often, it's the qualification. The people you'll reach are the people still in the mess you've only partially walked out of. You don't need to wait until you're wise. You need to share what you've learned a few steps ahead of where someone else is now.
That has always been enough.
YOUR ONE THING FOR TODAY
Do one thing this week for someone that you'd normally tell yourself you're not qualified to do.
Send the message to the friend who's struggling, even though you don't know what to say. Pray with the colleague who mentioned a hard week, even though it feels awkward. Talk about your faith with the family member who's been asking questions, even though you feel out of your depth.
Pick one. Do it. The feeling of being underqualified is the point. That's where you learn he's with you.
Father, I'm not qualified, and I've been hiding behind that for too long. Send me anyway. Go with me when I go. Help me trust that your presence is the whole point, not my readiness. Use what I have. Amen.
A NOTE BEFORE TUESDAY
The subscriber price on my new eBook ‘Known’ is still live. 50% off, for Quiet Word readers only, until Tuesday morning at 7am. Then the link closes and the public launch goes up at full price.
There's one identity in the book we haven't touched this week. It's the chapter for the one defined by labels that were never God's. I'll leave it there. You'll find it inside.
P.S. Tomorrow is Sunday. We rest, and we close out the week.
OVER TO YOU
Who's the one person God's been nudging you to reach out to? Hit reply with their first name. I read every one.
God bless you, my friend.
The LowKey Christian
FROM THE ARCHIVE
If today's post stirred something, this one gives you something to do with it: How to Apply the Armor of God in 3 Daily Habits.