Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
8 11 2025
When ‘I Can’t’ – Becomes ‘God Can’” – Breaking free from self-limits to embrace God’s calling.
Some of the most valuable gifts in life aren’t the ones you can see — they’re the ones you carry in your spirit. Often, we overlook them because they feel too normal to be special. We think of “gifts” as extraordinary talents like singing, preaching, or creating art, and we miss the fact that God has filled every one of His children with something unique that makes a difference in the world.
But what if your most powerful gift is your presence in someone’s life? What if it’s your ability to encourage, to comfort, to bring peace into a room, or to quietly serve in a way nobody else notices?
I heard of a young person making $20. an hour at a tough construction job. They are struggling financially between what they want for their future but keep getting sucked into pastimes that help them find some peace and comfort to what they perceive as their dismal and often dead-end existence. They are in a funk. Depressed. Purely with no real plan, to dig themselves out of a hole that was dug over the last couple of years. They want it now but aren’t disciplined enough to ask for help, develop a plan and put God back into the number one position.
Let’s weave together three simple thoughts that hold life-changing truth:
Be Kind to Yourself When You Feel Low
“Be kind to yourself when you feel low. Someone out there feels better because you exist.”
We all have days or months or longer, when we feel invisible, unproductive, or unworthy. In those moments, it’s easy to believe the lie that we’re not making a difference. Not even to ourselves. But Ephesians 2:10 reminds us:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Your life is not an accident. The kindness you can offer, the encouragement you can speak, the prayers you whisper — they may feel small to you, but to someone else, they are lifelines.
I see politicians double down with a bold statement they make supporting their beliefs.
Why aren’t we doing that as Christians.
In those dark moment of discouragement, disappointment, we have the tendency to pull away, isolate and waller in our own self pity. And yes we will all have those moments
but if we choose to stay there we become further paralyzed and more deeply discouraged.
We need to double down on what God says about us and about those desert seasons.
Being kind to yourself means remembering that your value doesn’t have to fluctuate with your emotions. There is a difference in having a bird rest on your head and letting them build a nest. So it is with our thoughts and remembering Pauls words: Take every thought captive, unto Jesus Christ! Double down on that, no matter what. Even on your lowest day, your presence can be the light God uses to brighten someone else’s darkness. But it means putting God first and others first too.
The Real Cost of “I Can’t”
Every time we tell ourselves “I can’t,” we close a door God may be asking us to walk through. Sometimes we think “I can’t” is harmless — just an honest self-assessment — but the truth is, it can be costly. It can cost someone else the blessing God wanted to bring through you.
And the doorway out of your own funk.
Philippians 4:13 is more than a memory verse from Sunday School:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Say, it over and over and over again until it penetrates and saturates your every thought. Calling all those other thoughts
unto submission to the word of God.
This doesn’t mean we can do anything we want; it means we can do anything God calls us to — because His strength is the source. When you say, “I can’t,” pause and ask: Am I talking about my ability…
or God’s? Am I resting on my strengths or the gifts and grace God has laviously bestowed on me.
Why am I listening to that other voice. It is clearly, not of God.
The real cost of “I can’t” is the missed opportunity to see God’s power work through your weakness.
Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes
We tend to see ourselves through the lens of our mistakes, failures, or fatigue. God sees us through the lens of Christ’s finished work — valuable, equipped, and dearly loved.
Zephaniah 3:17 paints a breathtaking picture “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He WILL take great delight in you; in His love He WILL no longer rebuke you, but WILL rejoice over you with singing.” Are you listening to His voice…His words? Or are your own thoughts of despair continuing to steal the life God has for you in your now?
That’s how God sees you. Not as a half-finished project, but as someone He delights in, someone He sings over. And when we see ourselves that way, His way, we begin to notice the gifts He has woven into our lives — gifts that are meant to be used to serve, love, and build others up. And in the process we become…a different person. We become more like Jesus.
I will be hosting an Online Discovering Jesus 5-week class starting on Tuesday nights
Sept. 2nd, at 7pm ONLINE for people of all ages. Please send me a note if you would like to attend or know someone who would like to grow their faith. If you have a big screen at home, you can create a time to invite friends or neighbors who would like to join you in a Home Group for 5 weeks. Let’s get creative.
If you’d like to share this with someone, here’s the signup link:
http://eepurl.com/gKlklD To browse the complete devotional library, visit:
https://fearlesslycourageous.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdO2cRXVHII
He’s been faithful to me. Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
