Laura J. Davis

"Mother Teresa once said, "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." She had it right. We're not authors, any of us. We are just the "pencils." Once we understand that, we might actually become useful to God." - The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns

Have you read The Hole in Our Gospel yet? If you haven't, you should. I'm only on page 94 and I'm finding new insights everyday. Written by the president of World Vision, it will challenge you to think about what you are really doing with your life - or not doing as the case may be.

I must confess that I feel at times I've limited myself in what I can or cannot do (change that to will not do)  for God. I've been more of an eraser than a pencil!  I have all kinds of excuses that I use for months before I finally give in to the calling of the Lord. Then I kick myself for not listening sooner!  I use excuses like - I can't stand for very long (so I couldn't possibly be called to go speak somewhere). I am a singer, not a writer (so He can't possibly be calling me to write). I don't have a lot of money (so He can't really be asking me to support a child in a third world country). He can't be asking me to just serve at home! That's way too boring! Or, here's a recent one - I can't possibly go into retirement homes and give bible studies, because I'm not a teacher.

Yet, after reading only 94 pages of A Hole in Our Gospel, I realize that God's anger could be burning against me, just as it did Moses when He asked him to talk to Pharaoh. (Ex. 4:10-14). If you read the chapter before that one, you will get a better idea of how much whining Moses did before he finally relented and went to Pharaoh. That's what I feel like I've been doing too. I lot of whining.

Out of all those excuses, there is only one I haven't followed through on and it is the Bible Studies. After I finish writing this blog, I will get on the phone to some retirement facilities here in London and find out if there would be an interest in that sort of thing. I've put this off for about 6 months now, because I kept telling myself no one would allow it  and no one would be interested anyway, plus - did I really have the time? Oh, boy talk about whining!

But, have you ever noticed how God uses people who are impossible? There's Jonah, who ran away from God. Peter who denied God, Thomas who doubted God - and _____ _____ you fill in the blanks.

One of the questions that rocked Richard Stearns' world was "Are you willing to be open to God's will for your life?" I will admit that up until this point, I thought I was! But, I can do so much better.

How about you? Are you a pencil or an eraser?