#113
Discover Your Possibilities (25/01/04)
Message
byDr. Robert
A. Schuller
There
are possibilities waiting at our fingertips for us to discover
so that we can become the persons God has called us to be. That
doesn't mean that we'll become super successful people in the
worldview. So let us think together how we can discover our possibilities
by looking at one of the most inspiring leaders in the Bible,
Moses.
Read the
story of Moses in the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible,
Exodus 2:11-15. and you will realize that God uses imperfect people.
God
always uses imperfect people
for His impeccable plan
That's
amazing, but I think God does that to explicitly let us know that
no matter what you and I have done ... no matter what our history
has revealed, God can still use us. I don't think anyone has done
anything more heinous than Moses ... and God chose him.
Sometimes
we discover the possibilities that God wants for us in a time
of suffering. It is then the discovery of self begins to reveal
potentials that we never thought possible before.
I think
of the words of Plato:
"A
wise man would rather suffer wrong, than do wrong." (Plato)
Moses
discovered his possibilities in a time of great suffering for
his people. Then God used Moses in the most dramatic way possible
to do something that was beyond belief. And how did Moses react
when God chose him? The following chapters in Exodus tell how
Moses led his people to freedom from slavery. Exodus 15 records
the triumphant songs of the many miracles of God that they experienced.
But first, see how Moses reacted when God chose him to be the
leader:
"Who
am I? ... O God, who am I that you would send me to Pharaoh and
that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
(Exodus 3:11)
Who am
I? I think we often ask that when we look at the possibilities
when God begins to reveal His dreams, visions and aspirations
for us. It really scares us to death.
(1)"Who
am I that God can use me?"
I felt
that way many years ago when I felt that God was calling me to
leave my position as the Minister of Evangelism at the Crystal
Cathedral and organize my own church in San Juan Capistrano. I
didn't know when ... and I didn't know how. But on a specific
day my father and I were driving from Garden Grove down to San
Diego and I pointed to a piece of property at the side of Freeway
5 and I said, "That's where I'm going to build my church."
It happened to be a 97-acre ranch. I said, "I'm going to
ask the owner of that ranch to give us 10 acres of land so I can
build a church there."
And my
father, who understands possibilities and how to discover
your possibilities, looked at me and he said, "Robert,
you know it is just as easy to ask for 20 acres as it is to ask
for 10." That's a true story and I replied, "Well, with
that logic, it's just as easy to ask for 40 as it is to ask for
20."
By the
time we reached San Diego, the decision was made ... we would
just ask for the entire property. But I felt a little bit like
Moses when I went to the owner of that property, John Crean, the
founder of Fleetwood Enterprises, and I said, "John, God
has called me to build a church in San Juan Capistrano and He
wants me to build it on your ranch."
It was
then that I learned, when God reveals His possibilities in our
lives, they are never the way we intend or expect them to take
place... so I thought John Crean was going to give me some good
news. He leaned back in his chair and he said, "You know,
just last night my wife, Donna, and I decided to give that ranch
away. It will become a retreat center. It's gone. It's not mine
to give." I was absolutely dumbfounded. A few months later
that organization wasn't able to fulfill their obligations, so
then John Crean gave the ranch to the Crystal Cathedral for a
retreat center. I held church services there for over fifteen
years and that's where we have our Possibility Living Seminars
sharing with people, in depth, how they can discover the possibilities
that God has given them to be the persons that God calls us to
be.
How do
we respond when God calls us? Is our response like Moses first
response ... "Who am I?" ... or do we use the second
response of Moses:
(2)
"But ... but God, what if the people won't listen to me."(Exodus
4:1)
Recently
in the newspaper I read an article about the actor, Tom Cruise,
who had been in London for the premiere of a new movie. While
Tom Cruise was mingling with the crowd, people asked him to talk
to their friends on their cell phones ... and he was quoted as
saying: "While talking to strangers on fans' cell phones
it was sometimes difficult to get the people on the other end
of the line to believe it was me. It was great fun to chat with
people's friends and family members by phone. I would just say
'Hello, how are you?' But most of the time they didn't believe
that they were speaking with Tom Cruise so they would just hang
up on me."
Now, I've
had a little of that happen to me before whenI call someone and
I say, "Hi, this is Robert Schuller." They reply, "Yeah,
right" ... and I protest. "No, really, this is Robert
Schuller." "You don't sound like him. Your voice sounds
too young." And I have a good time with that.
(3)
"But what if they don't believe me?"
That's
what Moses said to God. And the same is often true with us as
we begin to discover the possibilities that God has for us. We
ask the same question; "Me, Lord? You think people would
believe me? Do you think I have any influence on others?"
God
uses imperfect people for His impeccable plan.
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
When God
called Moses, Moses had melted into an obscure society where he
was a shepherd, just an ordinary, everyday kind of guy. But God
called him and do you know what Moses' fourth excuse was?
(4)
"But God, I'm not an eloquent speaker...
I'm just
an ordinary person."
And I think most of us feel the same way. We're just ordinary
people.
I know
that when I was called into the ministry I sat in the church pew
as you do. Every Sunday of my life as I listened to my father
speak, I was just amazed at how he could stand up in front of
people and his voice didn't quiver ... because every time I stood
up in front of an audience my voice would quiver and my knees
would shake. I was absolutely scared to death. I was so afraid
to stand in front of my class in school to speak, that I would
find the back corner in my classroom. And if I thought the teacher
was going to call on me I would put my head down fast and start
studying furiously. If she would call on me, my voice would crack
and I would shake. I was so terrified, I couldn't think nor answer
the questions. It was that way all through college. I barely passed
my speech class. That's the truth.
I entered
seminary with this predicament not having a clue as to whether
or not I would ever break through this terror that gripped me
whenever I had to speak in front of people. I'll never forget
the time that I was speaking here in the Cathedral to a group
of women, leading a Bible study. And something happened ... I
just felt this calm peace come over me. It was my first year in
seminary. Not until I needed it, did God give me the blessing
to be able to stand in front of people and talk without being
absolutely scared to death ... petrified.
What happens
when we move forward and accept the challenge and the call that
God gives us? He fills the gaps and the imperfections. God takes
the ordinary and turns us into extraordinary. And all those things
we thought we had to have, we find out we either don't need them
or God gives them to us.
And then
Moses had one last plea,
(5)
"Please Lord, send somebody else."
That's
what Moses said. I think we all feel that way often. I'll never
forget the morning about 15 years ago when I felt that way when
I woke up opened the newspaper and on the cover of the Orange
County Register was a picture of a pile of rubble, and sitting
on top of that pile of rubble was a poor Mexican fisherman. Underneath
was a caption that read: "Sitting on his home in La Carbonerra,
Mexico, after the hurricane destroyed the entire village."
And I sat there very comfortable in my home and I looked at that
paper and I said to my wife, "Gee, what a terrible thing.
That poor guy." And she answered, "What happening, Robert?"
And I answered, "Look at this front page. Look at this poor
man, his house is only rubble. It is too bad somebody can't do
something for him. You know the terrible thing about it is he
doesn't have the money to rebuild it and he has no insurance for
his house. He is going to try to take those scraps of rubble to
build a shelter. Too bad somebody can't help him."
And my
wife looked at me, (I think it was the voice of God speaking through
her) and she said, "Well, you could do something about it."
I said,
"Me? ... Who me?"
She answered,
"Yes, you could do something about it if you wanted to."
And I
said to myself "Oh sure ... let somebody else do it. "Please
send somebody else to do it."
But the
next day I found myself on a small plane provided by Missionary
Aviation Fellowship on my way down to La Carbonerra, Mexico. My
goal was to help one person rebuild his home and then I'd go back
home. I thought I could probably afford to do that. But when I
got there, I met with the president of the local jurisdiction
and he said, "You can't build one house."
I said,
"What do you mean?"
He said,
"If you build one house, that man will be ostracized and
everybody will put him down. That would be a catastrophe. You
have to build the entire community."
I said,
"What do you mean I have to build the entire community?"
He answered,
"Just that."
I replied,
"Well, what will it cost to build the entire community?"
"For
$250,000 you can rebuild the entire community." Was his answer.
Wow! Would
I be able to raise $250,000? I came home, and with the help of
World Vision, with my little church congregation in San Juan Capistrano
and other friends, we were able to raise $250,000 to rebuild the
community of La Carbonerra, Mexico.
God
calls us to be His instruments to help others.
Some people
will try to put us down and prevent us from doing what God calls
us to do. They will come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons
why we are not capable. But our quest is just to keep on listening
to the call of God, believing that in spite of our imperfections,
God is going to use each and every one of us. That, in spite of
our ordinariness, He is going to use us anyway.
Discover
the possibilities that God has given to you. Believe you have
been called by God for a special purpose.
O God,
I thank You that You are here speaking to me. You are giving me
a thought, an idea... as I read something in the paper ... hear
something on the streets ... or get a nudge from a friend of mine.
So help me, Lord, to believe that I can change the world and make
it a little bit better as I discover my possibilities. With God
behind me ... with Christ before me ... with the Holy Spirit within
me ... may I discover the possibilities that God has for me today
and tomorrow. Amen.
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