Moses claimed he couldn't "do it" because he stuttered.
Barak didn't want to "do it" without Deborah
Jeremiah thought he was too young to "do it"
The disciples were ignorant fishermen that couldn't "do it"
And then there's Gideon. The Angel of the Lord called him a great warrior as he was hiding from the enemy of his people in a wine press. The thing that most people remember about Gideon is that God told him to send all but 300 men home because He knew the Israelites would boast about how they'd delivered themselves from the enemy.
A thought occurred to me while I was reading this very familiar story many of us know so well. God didn't need him and his 300 men. In fact, as you look at all the stories in the Bible, you realize that Almighty God didn't need any of the people he chose.
He didn't need Moses to "do it"
He didn't need Barak to "do it"
He didn't need Jeremiah to "do it"
He didn't need the disciples to "do it"
And he certainly didn't need Gideon to "do it"
The fact is he doesn't need any of us to be involved with Him in the work He has planned for each of us, and amazingly, the greater the odds against us, the better it is because we couldn't possibly claim we did it on our own.
When I read this story about Gideon the other day, something else jumped out at me that I'd never seen before: the Angel of the Lord said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:14)
In other words the Lord was telling Gideon, to go with the little strength he has and leave the rest to God. In seeing this for the first time, I'm hearing the Lord tell me, "Go with the little strength you have…" and "leave the rest to Me."
God doesn't need John, Dennis, Charyl and me to make a movie to tell people about Him. He doesn't need us for anything, but He wants us because He loves us and by the great and mighty things He does through us, people will begin to see how much He loves all of us.
None of us were around when God created the heavens and the earth, and the stars in the heavens, and He certainly doesn't need us to tell people of His love for us; but He wants us to be involved. He wants to include us. If that doesn't encourage us when we feel overwhelmed by a vision He has given us, I don't know what will.
Every time I see the moon, I think about the fact that it's the same heavenly body that Adam saw that first night he existed, it's the same heavenly body that Abraham walked under, the same one that Moses saw as he looked out over the vast Hebrew camp that stretched out over the desert and it's the same heavenly body Jesus prayed beneath in anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.
So if you're facing some impossible task, take courage and know that the God, who didn't need you to create the heavens and the earth, wants you to be included in His plans.