Help

After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.

Joel 2:28-29

Who me? That’s a common response in the Old Testament. Many of the prophets responded with their own version, but the essence was the same. For Moses, it was speech. For Gideon, it was the size of his family. For Isaiah, it was the fact that he was “unclean”. When God selected a person for a particular task, the response was frequently, “Who me?” I imagine an accompanying “deer-in-the-headlights” look of disbelief. As I was studying this remarkable promise of God in the book of Joel last week I was reminded of the details. God promised to pour out His Spirit on all. In Acts 2, Peter confirmed that God is good to keep His promises. When I slow down and read the details in Joel 2, I recognize that God’s promise anticipates our excuses. Who me? I am too young. I am too old. I am the wrong gender. I am in the wrong socio-economic class. In effect, God says, “not a problem”. God promises to personally provide the power that we need to serve as a witness. Our inadequacies are never a surprise to God. Sadly, our excuses do not end with age, gender and social class. No, we are far too creative in our excuses to leave it with the big three.  We are able present God with a long list of things that we presume that God hasn’t thought about when He asks us to serve Him. We throw up our past, our present, our limited understanding of our potential. In advance of our excuses, God made a promise. I will send help – a Helper, in great measure. I will pour out the Helper upon you.