Vital signs- Monday, November 23rd, 2020

As a young teen i spent much of my time in church like other teens passing notes in church and maybe talking a little more than I should during service, I was seized in anxiety when the sunday school teacher said, “Phil , dismiss us in prayer.” My heart beat out of my chest and silence overtook the entire room . I was paralyzed .

I was breaking out in a cold sweat. My name had been called, but surely I wasn’t the right one to pray the final prayer, was I? Seconds seemed like minutes. People wondered if they were going to ever be dismissed.

Like me sitting in church paralyzed with fear, many people can relate to the feeling that perhaps God rang the wrong phone when He interrupted your normal, comfortable life for you to answer an impending call for service. You will be the first one to question your ability, but probably not the last. Our culture tends to spotlight the polished and poised, but sometimes God likes to turn those expectations on their heads and use a vessel not so obvious.

If you think about it for even just a few moments, you might recall at least one time when you weren’t the best candidate or the best prepared or the most comfortable and yet God used you in your weakness. The power of the Holy Spirit made the difference, using you to accomplish His purpose.

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭2:1-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬