You sound weird!
While on a mission trip in Alaska, I was talking to another counselor. A little girl came running up to us and looked at the other counselor and said, “There are a lot of people here who talk weird this year!” Now remember we are in bush Alaska. This intrigued me so I asked the little girl, “Who talks weird?” She looked at me and said, “You do!” She then proceeded to say, “And I met this other girl named Avalea who talks weird. There is also another counselor named Ms. Amanda who talks weird.” A little surprised at what she said, I responded “Amanda is my wife and Avalea is my daughter!” The other counselor laughed and it was like a light bulb went off for the little girl. She just looked at me and said, “Well, you all talk weird!” and ran off to play.
The little girl was right! I do talk a little weird. I have even complained to God about it. He would call me to do something, and I would say like Moses did, “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.” (Ex 4:10 MSG) Moses seems to even put the blame back on God for how he speaks…You made me this way! Yep, that is a crutch I have used. But just like with Moses, God was not having it.
My daughter Avalea loves to listen to Pastor Nick Vujicic. He was born without any arms or legs. I was listening to one of his sermons the other day and he was laying on the stage preaching. It did not look like he had any way to get up. He was preaching on getting to heaven and running up to Jesus and hugging Him. What caught me was he was not focused on him being able to run, or his ability to be able to hug Jesus. He was focused on what Jesus would say to him. He said, “When I run up to my Savior and hug Him, He is going to look over my shoulder and say, “Who did you bring with you?”” He then popped up on stage like anyone else would that had arms and legs.
I have no doubt Pastor Nick desires to have arms and legs, and yes, I kinda, sorta, would like a little clearer speech. But that should not be our focus or crutch. It should be…who are we bringing with us! Did you know the Holy Spirit has a country southern accent? He does when he speaks through me, my wife, and our children. And when he speaks, it is the most beautiful and powerful voice you will ever hear. When I quit making excuses and complaining about my voice, God uses it! So quit looking at what you see as faults and realize they are actually features.
