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Introduction

We are emotional people.  Everything we do is supported by the sub-structure of our emotions.  If we are motivated and excited, for example, there seems to be no limit to what we can accomplish.  But then sometimes our emotions stops us dead in our tracks.  The biggest momentum killers of these emotions are shame and the feeling of being unqualified.  Even then when we master these emotions, there are still times that we just feel unmotivated.  When you just don’t feel like it.  Is that what God wants for us?  To be tossed around in a sea of our uncertain emotions.  Or is there something bigger we can cling to?  God is bigger than our current emotional state.

Over Shame

“As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

– Romans 10:11 (NIV)

Everyone falls short of the Glory of God.  That doesn’t make you a sinner or a hypocrite.  Hypocrites don’t believe what they say they do.  If you have a conviction and you sometimes fail in that conviction, you are human.  I understand your frustration.  We want what is good, to chase after God with abandon.  But if you are walking uphill and you stumble, that doesn’t change your trajectory.  Therefore, if you are saved and you sometimes fall short.  You are not a sinner, you are a Child of God that sometimes stumbles.

The Devil tempts us and when we fall, he turns around and condemns us.  “You are not a Christian.  Why would God have anything to do with you?  You’re a hypocrite.”  When Jesus is confronted with a crowd who caught an adulterer in John 8, He turns the crowd away by telling them “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  The crowd dissipated and Jesus asked the woman: “Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?”  “No one, sir,” she said.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.  “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus forgives and forgets our sin.  He gives us a new life.  A new identity.  Then why do you wallow in shame?  Eroding the identity Christ has given you?  God doesn’t hold your sin against you, why do you?

“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”

– Romans 8: 33 (NIV)

When you fail and shame starts to creep in.  Don’t condemn yourself.  Don’t try to prove your salvation through your own ability and good works.  Turn back to God, and re-establish your identity in Him.  Your identity, in Christ, is greater than your shame.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

– 2 Corinthians 5: 17 (ESV)

Over Ability

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but 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, leaving none alive.”

– Judges 6: 15- 16 (NIV)

Sometimes we push ourselves past burnout and our ability fails, other times we’re too scared to face the challenge because of our inability.  How can you even start to follow the seemingly impossible mission you were called to?  We can’t.  We, like Gideon, are sometimes weak and unequipped.  We are not called to accomplish anything in our own ability though.

In Acts 1:4, Jesus is eating with the disciples.  He tells them that they are not to leave Jerusalem, until the Holy Spirit is with them.  If you set out in your own power, you will fail.  If you need to, wait for the Spirit of God.  Pray to reorient yourself towards God, and start following Him in the current circumstances you are in.

“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

– Judges 6: 12 (NIV)

When God called Gideon to save Israel from the Midianites, he wasn’t a soldier.  He never fought in a war or trained with fighters.  He was from the weakest clan in Manasseh, threshing wheat.  But God had a greater calling for Gideon.  God called Gideon as a mighty warrior before even equipping him for the task.  God’s calling is Greater than your ability.  He will equip you.  And He will be with you.  You don’t have to follow your calling, in your own strength.

God doesn’t call the equipped.  He equips the called.  1 Corinthians 2: 1- 5.

Over Motivation

Our motivation, on the other hand, comes and goes.  Some days we can’t wait to face the challenge of life, other days we struggle to do the bare minimum.  What should we do, when we just don’t have the motivation to face the day?  How do we follow God, through our own shaky motivation?

In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah, fled from Jezebel.  He was called to rid the Israelites of Baal worship.  After dealing with the prophets of Baal, the king’s wife, Jezebel, became enraged.  She sent a message to Elijah that she was going to do everything in her power to get him killed.  Elijah became afraid, and he fled to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he told God: “I have had enough, Lord.”

Sometimes we want to call it quits.  Sometimes we just want to stay in bed and tell God that we have had enough.  We just don’t feel like it.

“There he went into a cave and spent the night.  And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

– 1 Kings 19: 9 (NIV)

Elijah had a calling.  He had an important job to do in the kingdom of God.  Even though he retreated to God’s mountain to talk to God.  God calls him out for following his fear instead of his calling.  God told him that he was positioned where he was, for a reason.  Sometimes we need to push our feet to where God tells us to be, regardless of what our heart says.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S Lewis writes about Lucy becoming scared when Aslan awakens a giant.  He reassures her by saying: “Once The feet are put right, all the rest of him will follow.”

If we start walking towards God with our feet, our hearts will follow.  When we are unmotivated and want to give up.  Taking the first step can change everything.  Even when our heart isn’t in it, we still have the power to direct our feet.  Step out in Faith, and God will let your heart follow.  The first step towards God, is greater than your motivation.

When we are depressed and want to stay in bed, pushing through that unmotivating emotions, might mean getting up; making the bed and taking a shower.  After that first step, your motivation will grow exponentially.  If you have something difficult to do, the first step might be to think about exactly how you can accomplish the task.  Once you have an action plan, any task will seem more manageable.  If you feel far from God, the first step might be to worship or to get on your knees.

You can’t always control your heart, but you can steer your feet.  If you take the step, the rest of you will follow.  Sometimes, all it takes to get the water moving, is dropping a pebble in the pond.

Conclusion

You have a heavenly calling from God.  God establishes a new identity in you, that towers over your past shame.  You were called before you were ready, but God equips you and leads you all the way.  When you feel beaten down and unmotivated.  God is with you.  Following your heart and current emotions will sometimes steer you towards hilltops, but it will just as likely lead you to the lowest valleys.  Keep your eyes on God and your emotions will follow.

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John

Hi I'm John, a twenty something pastor dedicated to learning Theology and teaching it to everyone. That's why I'm here. Lets stick together, grow closer to God and escape the ordinary!

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