Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
(1 Cor. 9:24 AMP)

The apostle Paul compared the Christian walk with athletic contests. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of a successful athlete who did not set goals and work hard toward achieving them. As Christians, we must do likewise.

You might ask, "But what if I set a whole lot of goals and don't reach any of them?" What if you set a whole lot of goals and reach some of them? It's better than setting no goals at all. I'd rather set lots of goals and reach half of them than to set no goals and reach all of them.

It's always better to believe God and step out in faith. God will be right there with you—leading and guiding every step of the way. Don't be afraid to step out. God cares about everything that concerns you.

"I'm not Qualified"
Sometimes we feel as though God has called us to do something that we aren't qualified for. Have you ever felt that He was leading you into an area in which you didn't have enough experience?

I know of several instances where people have dealt with these issues, but God had called and anointed them to do a certain job, and they did it.

Did you know that you can do anything God has called you to do? Do you realize that you are neither too young nor too old or over- or under- qualified to be used by God? You're not even too "in-between" for God to use in ministry. When God called Jeremiah, he said:

...Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said...Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
(Jer. 1:6-8)

I certainly know what that scripture is talking about! I was a sixteen-year old high school girl when God called me to preach the Gospel throughout America and in other nations.

I sensed His call to preach from the very beginning of my new life in Christ. This was pretty serious for someone who nearly passed out over giving an oral book report!

Right away I contacted a young man whose opinion I respected for advice as to how I should respond to what I was sensing in my spirit. His immediate reaction was "God could never use you to preach!"

Now that might have threatened to bring back all of my old feelings to intimidation and insecurity, but instead, I thought, "No I am sure about what God is saying to me, and I'm not going to get discouraged! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

I started studying and applying the simple principles of faith and confession that I had heard Brother Hagin teach at the crusade when I got saved. I spent hours every day listening to his tapes and walking my bedroom floor confessing, "I have the mind of Christ. The Greater One lives in me. Greater is He that's in me than he that is in the world!" (See 1 John 4:4.)

The first book I ever read from beginning to end was "The Believer's Authority" by Brother Hagin. And when I did, I suddenly realized that I had a new ability to comprehend what I read. So I got all of Brother Hagin's books I could find and studied them with a vengeance.

I committed scriptures to memory and made positive confessions over my life every day. I even looked at an empty calendar and confessed, "One day you won't be large enough to write in all the places that God will send me!"

I may not have been qualified in the traditional sense of the word, but God had qualified me and was preparing me for my purpose. The same is true for you; you are qualified and being prepared for God's purpose in your life!


Source: Conquering Intimidation by Kate McVeigh
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications