A father asked his beloved daughter to come and play her harp for him because he was sick and in great pain.  He hoped her sweet music would calm his agitation. It pained her to see him in such agony and she would have rather shut herself in her room away from his suffering, but she obediently put her fingers to the strings.  She made no excuse that she wasn’t ready or didn’t have the right music or she wasn’t very good at playing.  Instead, she set herself to the task immediately.  As soon as the strings began to vibrate, the whole house seemed to fill with the rich sound.  Her father’s tense body started to relax and he was carried on the waves of sound to a peaceful place.  There were other daughters in the house, but the father had summoned only the one who had the ability to play.  He never would have expected his artist daughter to play the harp.  Nor would he have insisted his get-it-done daughter should sit quietly playing soulful tunes.  

Not all children respond well to requests from parents.  Have you ever been frustrated when you gave one of your children a job to do and they squirmed out of it by telling you that they just couldn’t do it because they didn’t know how or didn’t have the skill?  Yet you knew they could have accomplished the task if they had stepped up, taken it seriously, and stuck with it.  You needed them but they copped out by claiming they were unable.  They took the easy way out.

I was acting like an excuse-giving child recently when a quiet voice inside chided me.  I was bemoaning one shortcoming or another to myself.  “I’m just not good at that”, I said to myself with a resigned sigh.  But just then the thought popped into my head- what if God feels about me the way I have felt about our kids making excuses?  What if he knows I could improve and even succeed if I would stop making excuses and assume that he is able to help me?  What if he needs me to be all I can be?  What if he wants me to succeed in this endeavor?  What if it’s me that’s holding me back?  I almost hesitate to tell you what happened next.  I know it’s hard to verify, but I heard a gentle whisper in my inner person, “I made you capable.”  I felt a stirring in my soul like a fresh breeze.  Immediately, a hiss retorted, “That’s not true.  Look at all the ways you fall short.  You’re not capable.”  But the magic had already begun.  The cloud was lifting and there was sunshine in my heart.  I knew I could do what God asked of me.  He made me capable of doing all the good things he planned for me to do.  The only thing stopping me is me.  Ever since then when I run into a difficult thing that normally would have made me cower and slide backward into excuses, I remember that word.  “Capable.”  I know I can move forward with determination and confidence.  This doesn’t mean that I can do anything I set my mind to.  For instance, I don’t plan to become a great pianist.  I know God’s promise is for the tasks that he has assigned to me.  He crafted each of us for certain things.  He didn’t form me to be a musician.  Oh, yes, I tried as a child and even into college and beyond.  But that gift wasn’t given to me.  You don’t have to do my work and I don’t have to do yours.  But we have the assurance that he enables us to do whatever he asks of us.  We can be confident.  His own Spirit is with us to give us what we need.  He has made us for these very tasks.  He has made us capable.  We don’t have to shrink back.  We don’t have to feel inadequate.  We don’t have to dwell on our shortcomings.  We have enough to do what God asks us to do.  

We’ve been formed by God with unique abilities and personalities to do the good work he asks us to do.  
“ Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?”  Deuteronomy 32:6
“You guided my conception
    and formed me in the womb.”  Job 10:10
“This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord,
the Maker of all things,”  Isaiah 44:24
“The Lord has gifted Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen with wisdom and ability to perform any task involved in building the sanctuary. Let them construct and furnish the Tabernacle, just as the Lord has commanded.”  Exodus 36:1

We are equipped for doing good by knowing and obeying God’s words.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it [Scripture] to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17

We are empowered to do good by God’s Spirit in us.
“He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.  He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’  Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful…”  Deuteronomy 8:17-18

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.”  Acts 1:8

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.”  1 Corinthians 4:20

“. . . our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”  2 Corinthians 4:7

“. . . God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”  Ephesians 3:20

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”  Philippians 2:13

“That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”  Colossians 1:29

We’ve been formed by God with unique abilities and personalities.  
We are equipped for doing good by knowing and obeying God’s words.
We are empowered to do good by God’s Spirit in us.
No excuses!  No cowering.  Just confidence in God.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  Ephesians 2:10

PS. The opening story is true.  I witnessed it in my own house.