But, Can I Do It?

There is a famous song football fans will soon be hearing.  “Are You Ready for Some Football!“  Yes, training camps have begun, with the usual bantering about who will improve, who will fall back and whether Brett Favre will be returning to the Minnesota Vikings for his 20th year in the sport. I thought I knew the answer this week when it was reported that Favre was going to retire.  We heard, on ESPN, that he had texted some of his teammates and that he was not coming back.  However, it was not long before reporters caught up with Brett Favre in his home state of Mississippi and he stated that his decision hadn’t yet been made.  It would depend upon whether he believed that his ankle, which had been surgically repaired, would likely hold up for the entire season.  Favre, who had a thrilling season and has started 285 consecutive regular season games, 309, if you count play-offs, wants to play at a high level.  That is understandable since excellence is necessary for victory in the NFL! So, we will wait a little longer to see if NO. 4 can do it again.  I enjoyed watching him last year and hope he will be able to come back and throw more of those last-second winning passes!  Brett Favre is certainly not the only one who wonders if he “can do it“. 

In the Bible, Moses and Gideon, to give two examples of men greatly used by God, both spoke of their inadequacies and not only wondered “if” they could do the task the Lord set before them, but also presented Him with reasons they were likely to fail to perform the task that was given to them: 

 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” Exodus 4:10-13 

The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”"But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.” The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” Judges 6:11-16 

Have you noticed that when a person speaks to the Lord about his inability, the Lord is not put off by a deficit, either real or perceived!  Unlike human endeavors which thrive on the highest of achievers, God has no such need.  When Moses speaks of what is to him, a deficiency, God reminds him to lean on the abilities he will give, which exceed what Moses thinks he possesses!  When Gideon speaks of his unimpressive family pedigree, God tells him that the important thing is that He will be with him, giving Gideon victory.  Later on in Gideon’s story, the Lord impresses upon Gideon even more that the victory will not come through Gideon and his army’s strength.   The Lord radically reduces the number of his soldiers to make certain that Israel will know that The Lord’s work is done not only in the Lord’s way, but in the Lord’s power! 

 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” Judges 7:1-7 

Often, we feel as Moses and Gideon did.  We look at the size of a task in front of us, and it looks so big.  We see our lack of strength, our sometimes meager resources, and the lack of influence we have in the world. We can feel defeated before we have even begun. God would like us to remember that our inabilities are no match for His power: 

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 

Can Brett Favre come back for another season of victory–I do not know.  Can we do all that the Lord desires that we accomplish for Him–we can because His power will accomplish all He has planned: 

 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;  your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands. Psalm 138:8