I Was A Shepherd

Amaziah has just told Amos to pack up and take his message somewhere else.

Everything in the room says Amos should argue.

Or leave.

He does neither.

He answers with a résumé.

The strangest résumé in the Bible.

"I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'" (Amos 7:14-15, NIV)

Read that as a job application and it's a disaster.

No training. No family connection. No platform.

A man who works with sheep and trims fig trees.

And that's the point.

He Doesn't Defend His Credentials

Notice what Amos doesn't say.

He doesn't say, "I'm more qualified than you think."

He says, in effect: I'm not qualified. I'm here anyway.

Because the Lord took me.

And the Lord sent me.

That's a different kind of confidence.

It isn't confidence in yourself.

It's confidence in who assigned you.

People who stand on their credentials get shaken when someone questions them.

People who stand on being sent are very hard to move.

The Ordinary Work Was the Preparation

I don't believe Amos's years with the flock were wasted.

Shepherds notice things. Weather. A lame sheep at the back of the flock. A sky that's about to change.

Anyone who tends fruit trees learns patience. They learn what a branch looks like before it fails.

When God took Amos from that work, He didn't throw it away.

He used the eyes it gave him.

I believe the same is true of the ordinary things in your history.

The job you thought was beneath you.

The season that felt like waiting.

The work no one ever clapped for.

God doesn't waste it.

It's often where He has been training the exact thing He's about to ask of you.

Sent Is Not the Same as Welcomed

Last week I said being asked to leave isn't the same as being sent away.

Here's the other half.

Being sent doesn't guarantee you'll be welcomed.

Amos was sent, and he was still told to go home.

So the question isn't, "Is this room comfortable?"

The question is, "Did He send me? And what did He say?"

Watch what Amos does next.

"Now then, hear the word of the Lord." (Amos 7:16, NIV)

He doesn't wait for Amaziah's permission to finish the assignment.

This Week

Write down three ordinary things you've done for years that no one ever clapped for.

Under each one, write one thing it taught you to notice, or to do.

Then ask: what has God been preparing me for through these?

And what's one small step toward it I can take this week?

If you've been waiting on the credential, the title, or the invitation, remember who Amos was.

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You weren't qualified.

You were sent.

Onward,
Chris Behnke