GOD'S TEAM


One morning my phone began to ring and ring--several people close to me needed prayer for some very BIG stuff. I had a woman call me and ask me to pray with her because she thought I had a deep faith. I remember thinking, “me?”  By 10 am that day I had prayed for several things and I sat down feeling a little overwhelmed. I actually asked God, “Me?” Are you sure I can do this, what if I pray wrong, is my faith strong enough and are you sure there isn’t someone who has walked longer with you or who doesn’t have the sin I have had in my life”?

After praying I headed out to meet some wonderful college students at Moody Bible College in Spokane for their chapel. It was a president’s chapel, which means the president of Moody, Dr. Paul Nyquist, was telecast to their chapel to watch. “God is good” is part of my blog name that has now become part of the title of this book. He knew ahead of time what my day would be like, he knew the seriousness of some of the prayer requests that I would get that day and he knew I was going to have a chance to share my faith with a beautiful woman who needed hope for her family. He put it on my heart to get into chapel with the Moody students. I laugh as I type this. They are not moody.

I needed to hear that sermon!! Dr. Nyquist started out by talking about a bag of baseballs he had. I am a baseball and a softball mom so let’s just say he had me at hello. He took the baseballs out of the bag one at a time for us to see. He pointed out how each is different, some have had more hits to them than others, and some are so broken from the hits they have taken. He said they are just like us, some of us have less sin and have been hit less then others but we all have had our hits just like the baseballs in his bag. What a great analogy. Then what he said was a home-run to my ears, and my heart. He said just because you may be more hit harder than others due to your past hurt and sin, do not ever doubt that God cannot and will not use you for his kingdom. It hit me right then that God will give me all I need, He will give me the words to speak truth into peoples life, and He’ll show me in my spirit how to pray. Doubt was not from Him so I needed to stop allowing it to creep in.

A few days later I was talking to my son who has some big decisions about the direction he is to go for college and his future. We talked and prayed about that and then I told him about how I was questioning my ability to be used by God and how I heard from God in that sermon at Moody Bible College. My son said something to me about working on a team with God and it was wonderful. I remember saying to him, “yeah, it is like Philippians 4:13 that says all things are possible with Jesus.” I said to my son that when we press into God and really listen He can and will show us all we need. God would show him which path to take and He would give me what I need to speak truth into the lives of the women he is putting in my path. I asked him to write down his statement about being on a team with God and e-mail it to me because what he said really stuck with me. I guess he has a little of me in him because when he went to write it down it just keep coming out and a statement turned into something even bigger. I want to share it with you. I got that right!!!

I hope you like what he wrote:

“GOD’S TEAM” by my son Tanner

A team is “Two Or More People Working Together To Accomplish A Common Task.” In a united team, members accomplish tasks together that would not be possible without a collective effort. Teams also allow us to accomplish things that far exceed our abilities and are beyond what we believed possible.

God often places tasks on our hearts that seem overwhelming and often impossible. The truth… these tasks are impossible through our own human effort. God’s tasks are not given to us to better ourselves, or feel a sense of self-accomplishment through our own efforts. Rather, I believe that God gives us tasks that challenge us and often seem insurmountable. These tasks require us to press into the Lord, and in turn, we learn that with God we can accomplish these seemingly “impossible” tasks. It is a matter of trusting the Lord and having full confidence that He will provide in the areas where we lack the abilities. You don’t have to have special abilities to complete God’s work, but there is a distinct ability that God sees in you as valuable and He desires to use your specific God-given ability to accomplish his plan.


What is your God-given ability?  There are no abilities that are better than another. However, abilities are useless unless we press into the Lord and take on the tasks God has for us. Take for instance the image of the “Body of Christ.” There is no body part that is more important. When we compare parts such as a hand and a foot, our fleshly nature would argue that the hand has greater value to the body. However, God made the human body so that every part is vital. In the same way, God views the feet of the Body of Christ just as valuable as the hand because they can both do God’s work, yet the tasks for the foot are different than those from the hand. The hand and the foot do not have the same abilities, thus they do not have the same tasks. Often praise is given to beautiful eyes, but has anyone given you a compliment of your ears? I am going to say probably not. In the same way, we give praise to what we perceive as the more beautiful or more “important” parts of the Body of Christ, when in reality each part is unique in its own way. The Body of Christ would not function without the unique ability that each Christian has to offer.

Maybe you are a prayer warrior and God has overwhelmed you with multiple people coming to you with burdens and you are stressed with all of the weight being placed on you. Or maybe you have Christ’s eyes and see people in need, but do not feel equipped to impact that person’s life. Maybe that is just it… God equipped you with eyes so you recognize those in need and then you have to hand it over to the Lord and let him take you beyond your abilities. The Lord knows we are not capable of doing the things he is able to do, but he has given us unique abilities that open the door for God to do His work through us. Perform your God-given ability by giving 110%, honoring God in everything you do. Remember there is no ability that is greater than another. Be humble in your ability and know that on God’s team, He can take your unique ability, and do amazing things to further His kingdom.


WOW, my heart overflows with joy when I read my son’s words. That is what I call a PROUD MOMMA MOMENT!!

I am ready for what God has in my path and my future. I am ready to press in a new and exciting way; I am on a team with God and with Him as my team captain ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. I hope you want to be on his team also. He sees each of us in our own special way, it is not like when we were in elementary school and the best were picked first for the teams on the playground. I truly was last picked if there was a ball involved; the other kids saw my lack of skill. God is not like those kids; He wants us all on his team, brokenness and all. He doesn’t hand pick the best, He wants us all and in our weakness He is able to build one heck of a strong team.  

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It is encouraging to hear how God spoke to you at Moody Bible Institute - Spokane's chapel. Dr. Nyquist will be here in Spokane after spring break to teach the rest of the series on Jacob.