What if you don’t feel ready for what God is asking you to do?
There are moments when God invites us into something that feels bigger than our qualifications or experience. We may even look at ourselves and see only the reasons we aren't ready.
Someone else could do this better.
I don't have enough experience.
What if I fail?
But in 2 Timothy 1, Paul gives Timothy a different way to see himself:
“Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:6–7
The invitation isn't to try and be like someone else “more qualified,” but simply to cultivate what God has already placed within us.
In the latest episode of Called Beyond, Tim Shuck talks with Simona, a fourth-generation missionary and executive director of Global Covenant, one of Novo's international partners focused on disciple-making movements in South Asia.
Her story is a reminder that courage doesn't always begin with confidence. Sometimes it begins with simply taking the next step of obedience.
Ready to listen to the full episode? Scroll down to access our embedded player or stream the conversation wherever you enjoy your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc.)
When you don't feel qualified
In her conversation with Tim, Simona recalled a solo trip she took to California to meet with some ministry partners during a difficult season of fundraising. She felt the pressure to somehow fix the problem and raise enough money to keep ministry moving. The anxiety became so intense that she experienced physical panic attacks.
She had an art degree. She wasn't the founder. She didn't feel like the person these donors expected to meet.
She felt like an imposter.
But in the middle of that anxiety, God began to remind her that the burden wasn't hers to carry. She was responsible for being faithful. God was responsible for the outcome.
Eventually, she found herself sitting in her car after a meeting, asking God what she should ask the potential donors for. The answer felt impossible: ask them for more than a million dollars.
She asked. They said yes!
The moment became a marker in Simona's life. It wasn't proof that she had suddenly become an extraordinary fundraiser. It was a reminder that God's provision doesn't depend on our ability to make everything happen ourselves.
As she put it, the experience became an “Ebenezer stone” for the greater leadership responsibilities that followed.
Nothing is wasted in God's kingdom
Simona's story also challenges another assumption we often make about calling: that everything in our past has to make obvious sense.
Her background is in sculpture and ceramics. At first glance, an art degree might seem like an unlikely preparation for leading a missions organization.
But Simona has discovered that creativity is deeply connected to the way she leads.
Artists learn to see possibilities. They experiment, solve problems, make adjustments, and keep working toward something they can see before it's fully formed.
That sounds a lot like following God.
Sometimes we receive a clear picture of what God is inviting us toward, but we don't receive the entire process at once. We take a step. We listen. We adjust. We take another step.
Simona describes creativity as a series of decisions and problem-solving. In that sense, creativity can become an expression of obedience: listening to God and responding to what he highlights next. And perhaps most importantly, she has learned that nothing is wasted in God's kingdom.
The degree you aren't using in the way you expected. The experience that seemed unrelated to your calling. The gifts you once considered insignificant. God can use all of it.
You don't have to know exactly how your story fits together to trust that God does.
in the face of persecution
The conversation with Simona takes an even more sobering turn when Tim asks what Paul's words about suffering for the gospel means within her ministry context.
For many of us, suffering for our faith is primarily an internal struggle. We wrestle with fear, discomfort, rejection, or the courage it takes to talk openly about Jesus.
For many of Simona's friends and ministry partners in South Asia, the stakes can be dramatically different.
She describes believers facing rejection from family, physical abuse, governmental oppression, imprisonment, and accusations of terrorism. Churches and homes have been targeted, and even small groups gathering to pray or study Scripture can face serious danger.
Simona describes living with that reality as being like standing on a surface of ice with a rushing river underneath it. On the surface, people continue doing their daily work. But beneath it is the awareness of everything that could happen.
Sometimes the ice cracks. Sometimes fear threatens to sweep you away.
And still, they keep going.
That doesn't mean ignoring danger or acting recklessly. Simona speaks about the need for wisdom and strategy. Her reflection on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego captures that kind of faith: trusting that God can save them, while remaining willing to walk into the fire even if he doesn't.
Practicing “creative courage”
Near the end of the conversation, Tim asks Simona to “fan into flame” whatever needs to be stirred up in the listener.
Her answer is simple: Creative courage.
“Courage can lead us places we never expected to go. It can lead us into battles we didn't anticipate and even to places we never imagined we could reach.”
But courage isn't something reserved for missionaries, pastors, leaders, or people who feel particularly brave. Every follower of Jesus has a next step.
Maybe you don't feel ready. Maybe you don't have all the credentials. Maybe you're looking at your life and wondering how anything you've learned or experienced could possibly be useful for what God is asking you to do.
As you step out in courage, regardless of the list of what-ifs, God can meet you there. He can give you courage as you move. He can use the gifts you already have. And he can take every seemingly disconnected part of your story and weave it into something you never could have imagined.
So what is the next step God is highlighting for you?
Maybe it's a conversation you've been avoiding.
Maybe it's a dream you've been afraid to pursue.
Maybe it's a person you've been called to love.
Fan the flame. Take the next step.
And trust God with the outcome.
Featured Guest
Simona is a fourth-generation missionary and the executive director of Global Covenant, one of Novo’s international partners focused on disciple-making movements in South Asia. Having grown up as a missionary kid, she now serves among many of the same people and communities she grew up around. A graduate in sculpture and ceramics, Simona brings her creativity and passion for the arts into her work of leading and equipping others for gospel multiplication.