Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China, accomplished great things for God’s kingdom. But you know, she had a rough start. First, she was told she wasn’t even qualified to be a missionary! But she knew better, so she took on a job as a maid to raise her own missionary support. When she had finally saved enough money, she bought a one-way train ticket to China. But you know, only a year after her arrival, the missionary she served with, died. So many times it would have been easy for Gladys to give up and go home. But she didn’t!

Similar to Gladys, maybe someone said you aren’t qualified. That God could never use you to do great things. Well, I’d like to tell you that God has a wonderful plan to use you in ways you could never imagine! St. Paul tells us in Philippians, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” If you look up the rest of Gladys’ story on Google, where Elizabeth Elliot tells the story, you’ll see it was a good thing she persevered- she would go on to save the lives of hundreds of children, plus the conversion of a very famous Swedish movie star. What’s holding you back today? God has begun a good work in you and He will carry it to completion as you try to reach your world in this generation.      

This is Luis Palau.