#43 Discover Your Possibilities (I) (21/09/02)

By Dr. 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. I think of the words:

"A wise man would rather suffer wrong, than do wrong." (Plato)

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. So this morning I decided that I would like us to think together how we can discover our possibilities by looking at one of the most inspiring leaders in the Bible, Moses. 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.

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. And how did Moses react when God chose him?

"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 as God begins to reveal dreams, visions and aspirations for us that scare 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 become the pastor of a small 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, being a guy 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."

But 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 and so then John Crean gave the ranch to the Crystal Cathedral and today we have a beautiful retreat center there. 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 his new movie, "The Minority Report." 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's 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 it was me so sometimes they would just hang up on me." They couldn't believe that they were speaking with Tom Cruise.

Now, I've had a little of that happen to me before. I've called someone and I say, "Hi, this is Robert Schuller." And they go, "Yeah, right" ... and I protest. "No, really, it is Robert Schuller." "You don't sound like him. Your voice sounds really 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 know I felt that way one morning when I woke up and 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 office on Monday morning and I looked at that paper and I said, "Gee, what a terrible thing. That poor guy." Then my wife came in and asked, "Anything happening, Robert?" And I answered, "I was just looking at the 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 insurance for his house. He doesn't have the money to rebuild it. 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 local church congregation 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.

So, in part two of Discovering Your Possibilities I'm going to share about the life of another one of God's inspiring leaders, St. Paul. When God called Saul, his life was turned around and he became St. Paul. As believers, our lives get turned around also. 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 mind. 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