Redemption amid Ruin

When Calling Feels Too Big

The bush burned, yet it was not consumed. Moses stood on holy ground, a shepherd of sheep, weighed down by doubt and past mistakes. God called his name, and he hesitated. “Who am I to do this?” he asked. He thought of his failures, his stutter, the years spent in exile. He remembered the life he had fled, the country he had escaped after taking a life in anger, and wondered how he could ever return to lead the people he had once fled from.

God did not offer a list of qualifications. He did not promise ease or applause. He said only, “I will be with you.” In that promise, Moses discovered the secret of courage. Courage does not come from our own strength. It comes from God’s presence walking beside us. At each step, in every confrontation, and with every challenge, God equipped the unprepared and strengthened the hesitant.

Centuries later, William Carey, the father of modern missions, faced a different kind of wilderness. He left the comfort of his home in England, stepping into a foreign land where language, culture, and disease could easily have defeated him. Friends doubted him. Family worried. Even his own heart questioned whether he was enough. Yet Carey moved forward, one painstaking step at a time, translating scriptures, building schools, and preaching tirelessly. “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God,” he wrote. His life shows that obedience often demands leaving the familiar, embracing uncertainty, and trusting God in every detail.

Courage, however, grows quietly, through ordinary moments. I remember one such moment in my own life. In high school, after being the victim of a harmless prank by friends, I refused to step onto the stage for a simple singing competition. Every eye in the auditorium encouraged me. It was meant to be fun, just two lines, maybe three. But I froze, letting fear hold me back. That hesitation lodged itself deep, shaping my courage in subtle ways for years to come.

By grade twelve, God called me again, this time to step boldly. I promised Him I would never turn down an opportunity to move forward. At university, He orchestrated the circumstances: five classmates from my hometown were there, familiar faces among strangers. He gave me courage. I stepped onto the stage, voice steady, heart willing. That day, I began to understand what Moses and Carey knew: boldness is born not from confidence, but from surrender and trust.

Since then, God has continued to stretch me in ways I never imagined. Speaking to children in international schools in Indonesia about my country, addressing women in different spheres, engaging business leaders, delivering keynote technical talks on Artificial Intelligence, and standing before audiences I never envisioned, including the very school I had once feared, He has been faithful. Each stage, each platform, each challenge has been a chance to trust Him more deeply.

Moses, called to lead the people from the land he had fled, William Carey in the foreign fields of India, and my own journey of small and large steps remind us that God equips the called. His presence transforms hesitation into courage, inadequacy into strength, fear into boldness. When He calls, we do not step alone.

Faith is not knowing the whole path. Faith is saying yes, stepping forward, and trusting that God is walking with us, shaping every word, every action, and every heart along the way.

Reflection Question:

What fears or doubts are holding you back from stepping into what God has called you to do?

Prayer:

Lord, I often feel small when You call me to something big. Help me trust not in my strength, but in Yours. Give me courage to take the next step, knowing You walk beside me. Amen.