I’ve had a couple people say to me recently something I’ve heard a lot: “I couldn’t do what you do.”

Well, we all have different abilities and callings. But I can’t do what I do, either. Every once in a while, I look at myself and say, “Who was patient in that time? Who worked all those shifts in a row? Who broke up that fight? Who was encouraging to that person? Because it sure wasn’t me.” That guy may have looked like me, and wore my hat, but it wasn’t me.

Frankly, if it were up to me, I’d crawl under my blankets and just stay there for a few months. If it were me, I’d walk away from irritating people and just keep around me the people I like. If it were me, I’d force people to do what needed to be done and screw the consequences.

But loving and gentleness isn’t me. It’s what God put in me. No one is strong enough to do God’s work. God purposefully calls us ALL to do more than we can do. His plan is for us to step into the situations that are too enormously big for us and to give us the wisdom and strength and love we don’t have ourselves.

And so we learn to trust in Him.