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What is in your bag · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. My name is Tracy
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  and I am going to be your host today for a, I
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  think it's going to be an exciting topic. As
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  I've been walking through Rowan's for the last
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  now several weeks, I hit into First Corinthians
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  over the weekend and I have a verse and it's
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  1st Corinthians 1, 27 through 29 in the ESV it
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  says, but God chose what is foolish in the world
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  to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in
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  the world to shame the strong. So that no human
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  being might boast in the presence of God. And
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  so in this episode, we're going to be talking
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  about you don't get to pick who God chooses.
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  what's in your bag. And so, hey everybody, I
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  am Tracy Foster. I am your host for Fostering
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  Faith this episode and we are going to be talking
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  about you don't get to pick who God chooses and
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  what is in your bag. And so let's go ahead and
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  make one thing clear. You don't get to vote on
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  who God calls. You don't get to edit his resume
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  list and you don't get to validate their past
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  or approve their skill set. Why? Because God
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  is sovereign. He chooses the unexpected, the
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  overlooked, the underestimated, and He equips
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  them with whatever is already in their hands
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  or in their bags. And so as we walk through this,
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  Gia is off to another church camp this week down
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  at Access in Tennessee with City Hope Church.
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  And so we know that she is going to come back
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  fully ready and fired up. And she has some already
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  great stories from the last church camp up in
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  C .I .Y. in Michigan to give you guys whenever
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  she gets back. I know that she is full of fire
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  and so excited. What God has in store for her
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  and so as if you are hearing this let's just
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  pray for youth this summer and just pray for
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  revival and clarity and discernment and passion
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  and desire to spread the word and so I I really
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  do feel like God is moving in the youth, especially
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  in our small town and across the nation. You
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  can see that in college campuses and in high
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  schools. And so just take a moment and just pray
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  over the youth in your community, in this nation,
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  in this world, and that God just sets them afire
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  and can use them in such a big way. Because,
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  again, you're never too young to make a difference.
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  And we have to remember that those disciples
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  Are not like old men. They're not like bearded
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  men with canes. I mean they were like in their
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  Teens they were 15 16, you know 20 years old
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  and so we really have to keep in mind that God
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  can use the young they can use the youth and
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  If you are willing he just has to have your yes
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  And so if you're listening to this, you know,
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  have your yes ready for whatever God calls you,
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  which brings us to the story of JL. And so I
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  don't know if I've heard a lot of sermons on
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  JL. My friend Nicole did a sermon. at a woman's
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  conference and was about and it was kind of called
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  what is in your bag and it really reminded me
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  of of jl and so if you'll find her story in judges
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  four and it's a straight -up plot twist that
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  only god could provide um because if you've not
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  read your scripture i mean it literally is the
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  book that has everything in it i mean it has
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  uh seduction it has murder it has um husbands
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  um killing other men it has uh you know just
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  Loves a love story. I mean it just has just wisdom
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  and it literally has everything that you would
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  ever need But if you want to turn to judges for
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  We're gonna go to the Israelite army who was
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  under a prophetess Deborah And I will fun fact
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  it is that Deborah is my mother -in -law's name,
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  but Deborah was the only Woman that was a prophetess
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  and a judge and so They're going against Cessera,
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  a powerful Canaanite commander, and God has already
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  promised a victory, but not through traditional
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  heroes. In fact, in Judges 4 -9, it says that
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  the battle won't end up with the glory for the
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  army's general Barak, but instead, the Lord will
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  deliver Cessera into the hand of a woman. Now
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  enter J .L. Who is she? She's not a warrior.
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  She's not a prophetess. She's not even an Israelite
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  woman in battle gear She is a tent -dwelling
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  wife and What's in her bag and so as? I am a
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  very minimalistic kind of person. I used to have
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  huge bags before Gio was born and I really never
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  really carried anything with him. I just wanted
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  a big purse. Now it's the crossover, but even
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  more that we have tap to pay. I don't even really
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  need a purse. I'm not a lipstick kind of carrying
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  person I'm not gonna give you a band -aid because
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  if it's not like hanging off like spit on it
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  You're gonna be fine. I don't have a ton of stuff
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  you know friends carry huge bags and like have
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  everything in there including a banana and Band
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  -aids and all the medicine and I just I just
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  don't carry that stuff And so after kind of just
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  like, you know, thinking about this podcast,
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  I was like, man, maybe I maybe I need to carry
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  a bigger bag, but I'm just I'm just not going
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  to. And so what is in JL's bag? A hammer and
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  a tent peg. Why? Why would she have this? Because
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  women in her culture were the ones responsible
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  for putting up and taking down tents. She had
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  driven hundreds of pegs and it was her everyday
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  chore. But on this day. God used her everyday
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  skill for kingdom victory Cesar was fleeing the
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  battlefield Coming to JL's tent and why did he
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  choose JL's tent? So there's a backstory on that
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  and it's about her husband having Two faces and
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  being for one team and being for the other team
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  and so he's like, oh let me run into his tent
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  But in that same instance and so she offers him
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  hospitality and so look at that and so she didn't
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  come You know, like, full force, like, I'm gonna
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  kill you. No, she was like, come here. You know,
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  lay down. Covers him up with a blanket, gives
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  him some milk, and then whenever he's sleeping,
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  she drives that tent peg straight through his
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  cranium, straight through his temple. Wait, what?
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  Yeah. That's graph that is in scripture that
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  is in your Bible this is in the book that people
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  are not reading and like all over you know social
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  media is that you know your Bible has dust on
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  it, but yet you have a new iPhone and so hopefully
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  your iPhone has a you version Bible app on there
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  If not, please read it or get the like blueprinted
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  Bible app Any Bible app that is free? Just download
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  it and because these are the stories that are
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  hidden in this love story that God has left us.
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  And so let's be honest. I mean, this message
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  offends our modern Western sensibility. But if
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  you have read through the ancient and near Eastern
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  eyes, God didn't commission under murder. He
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  allowed deliverance through unconventional means.
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  JL wasn't praised because she killed. She was
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  praised because she obeyed and acted. decisively
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  in the moment that God had orchestrated. And
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  so in Judges 5, 24, Deborah sings most blessed
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  of women, B, J, L. She struck Cessera and she
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  crushed his head. And so the Hebrew root word
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  for blessed here is Barak. She also, it is also
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  used for highly favored by God, like Mary and
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  the mother of Jesus. So what does this teach
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  us? God uses What you've done privately and practice
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  privately to bring about his purpose in public
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  his purpose in public Your tent peg moments might
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  just be on their way So what's in your bag? What
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  have you been carrying around that looks ordinary?
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  Maybe it's your job Maybe it's your story your
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  heartbreak, your stubborn consistencies. Maybe
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  it's the way that you care for people when no
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  one else is looking. The way that you talk to
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  teenagers, bake casseroles, or spot someone's
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  loneliness from a mile away. Let me tell you,
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  nothing that you've practiced is wasted in the
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  hands of God. And so, Now that we see how jail
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  was rugged and rural, we have Esther. Esther
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  was royal and refined. But they have this thing
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  in common. Neither of them applied for their
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  calling. God positioned them. Esther was a young
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  Jewish girl taken into the presence King's harem.
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  She wasn't trained in political maneuvering,
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  but she had favor. And that favor, combined with
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  courage, saved a nation. Her cousin, Mordecai,
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  told her, Esther, in Esther 414, and it says,
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  and who knows but that you have come to a royal
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  position for just a time as this. And I spoke
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  on this at a woman's conference called Roar,
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  and I was... given the privilege to do the morning
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  kind of like pep talk to get people excited for
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  the day and what better way to get people excited
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  to know that you have been called for just a
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  time as this and so this phrase such a time as
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  this is Kronos and Kronos is chronological time
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  a tick -tock on the calendar and Kyrios is an
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  appointed time, a divine moment. And so God appointed
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  her Kyrios moment, but he also prepared her for
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  the long before way before that. And so how did
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  he do that? And so you don't get to pick who
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  God chooses, including yourself. But when he
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  chooses you, he will use what's already forming
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  inside of you. JL didn't need a sword. Esser
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  didn't need a title. David didn't need armor.
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  Moses did not need eloquence. And Peter didn't
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  need a clean record. God used what was already
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  in his bag. And so what's in your bag? And so
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  let's list it out. What betrayal have you overcome?
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  That's in your bag. That class that you barely
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  passed but learned resilience from it. It's in
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  there too. The heartache, that addiction that
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  you've broken free from, that thing that you
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  think disqualifies you, it's actually your tent
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  peg. It's a street credit that no one else has
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  but you and so all those things that you've went
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  through, all those fires that had refined you,
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  that's your tent peg. And so this is called redemptive
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  reappropriation. God takes what was meant to
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  harm you and Uses it for his glory. And so as
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  I walk through Romans recently, I was able to
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  do a six -week class through Dallas Seminary
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  on it as well. And so it says think Romans 828
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  God works all things together for good in Hebrew
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  storytelling We have the 10 peg wasn't just a
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  tool. It was a symbol Esther's beauty treatments
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  weren't just a spa days. It was God's backup
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  prep. Your bag isn't just life's leftovers. It's
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  divine arsenal. Then maybe you're thinking, but
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  I'm not JL or Esther. I'm just trying to survive.
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  Perfect. So was Gideon. So was Ruth. And so was
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  Peter when he was fishing all night and catching
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  nothing. Listen, God doesn't call the qualified.
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  He qualifies the called. He's not asking if you're
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  ready. He's asking if you'll say yes. And so
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  how do we do this? Take inventory of your bag.
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  Know what you got. What are your skills? What
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  are your scars? What are your stories that are
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  in there? Pray for discernment. Ask God, where
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  can I drive this tent peg for your kingdom? Where
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  can you use me? And step into your moment like
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  JL, like Esther, like you, like David. Like all
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  those things that you have been practicing in
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  private, all the readings that you've been doing,
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  all the studies that you've been doing, all of
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  the things that, all the mess that you went through,
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  all the addictions, all the bad relationships,
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  all the things that you have learned and Christ
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  has brought you through, those are your moments.
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  Those are the things that God can use if you
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  have a word yes. And so let's end this by You
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  were never meant to compare your calling to someone's
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  else JL didn't have a crown Esther didn't have
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  a hammer and they didn't need each other's weapons
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  They only needed their yes So what's in your
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  bag? hold it up lay it before God and get ready
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  because You're such a time of this maybe closer
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  than you think. And so we hope that this message
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  inspired you. And for Fostering Faith, we want
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  you to share this with a friend who needs to
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  be reminded that their story still matters, that
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  they're called, and to make sure that you subscribe.
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  And don't forget to write something in the comments.
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  You don't get to pick who God chooses, but you
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  get to say yes. When he calls you and we would
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  love to pray for you guys and so dear Heavenly
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  Father Thank you so much for today. Thank you
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  so much for these listeners Thank you that they
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  are going to be searching their bags this week
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  because you have put Something in our bags that
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  only we can use that we are masters at using
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  Thank you that we are going to be used by you
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  because our answer is going to be yes Thank you
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  for our boldness as we step out. Thank you for
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  our calling Thank you that you have made us for
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  just a time as this. Thank you for all that you
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  do for us Jesus name I pray Amen and amen and
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  so until next time keep fostering your faith
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  Even when it doesn't make sense God's not done
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  with your story and have an amazing week guys.
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  We love you