One of the challenges about being a young adult and making the turn from high school to college, or moving from a clerk job to a management job is that the leap in responsibility can sometimes be overwhelming. By Senior year in high school you knew the routines, knew the teachers, knew the school and the routes to school. For many going onto college, the shift in personal responsibility is significant. Some thrive and some... owe a lot of money by the time they are done with the college experience because they wish they had done things more responsibly. As a clerk, it's easy to think the managers don't have a clue, but then you become one and you will often see a different world and experience pressures that you never knew they dealt with.


I guess in my experience, one of the hardest adjustments was to that feeling like I was not ready, not prepared, not worthy. Sometimes the promotion led me to realize how little I actually knew and it led me to be timid, fearful and quite frankly, depressed. Either I would swell up with defensive pride and say LOOK AT ME AND HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY or I would sink into the depressed spirit that suggested "I have nothing special or of real value to offer"


When it comes to sharing the story of God's Faithfulness there are a lot of young and older people who feel the same way and hear that same voice - "you're not qualified to talk about Jesus". We think of the things we may have done that "disqualify" us. We consider the "credentials" we don't have compared to other people. We look at the "limitations" of our personalities and experiences and we often give into the voice that tells us we have nothing to offer. And yet it is often the weak and the humble that God uses to do some of his greatest work.


Shepherds were the low low people in society. Working with unclean animals they were not welcome in the churches of their day. Often uneducated and with a reputation of being unreliable, these were poor people. And yet God brought church, his presence and the message of great joy to the shepherds, not the priests, not the highborn, not the wealthy. And the story doesn't end there does it? The shepherds were the first heralds and bringers of Good news of Great Joy.


God Came with Good News


The Shepherds heard it and wondered


The Shepherds obeyed and went to see for themselves




Overcome by what they had heard, seen and experienced the SHEPHERDS told everyone they could! (on their way back to work I might add). And people were amazed at the message of the simple, poor shepherds.


To all of the younger and older people feeling like God can't use our stories and our positions, low or high though they may be, do NOT miss the message of the Gospel. That forgiveness of sins, new heart and identity through complete relationship with Jesus is for ALL people. And it's a message that is meant to be shared BY all people - including the lowly and humble, the credentialed and educated, the simple and poor - like you and me.


God bless you