Graham Cochrane (00:03.63)
How many times have you told yourself you're not ready? Not ready to launch the business, not ready to speak up, not ready to take that next step. But what if not ready is just fear wearing a mask? What if the very moment you're hesitating to step into, the very thing you're hesitating to become is the one that could change everything? Well, in this episode, I want to challenge the belief
that you have to feel ready to be used because if you keep waiting for the perfect moment, you'll miss out on the one that's already in front of you.
Graham Cochrane (01:12.526)
In 2009, when I started my first business, the recording revolution, you better believe I didn't feel ready. In 2016, when I decided I wanted to launch a second business to teach people about how to start and grow businesses, you better believe I didn't feel ready. In 2020,
When I decided I wanted to get serious about my dream to be a published author, you better believe I didn't feel ready to get a book deal and write a best-selling book.
Every step of my business journey. I have not felt ready. Oh, and it's not just business by the way the moment I met Shay as a 19 year old and she was 17 and we dated through college as I approached the end of college and I realized Now is the time to propose to this young woman and make it official and plan our life together You better believe I didn't feel ready to be a married man. I was 22 I hadn't even
lived on my own. had roommates my whole life. I'd never had my single life. I didn't feel ready to be a husband. When we got pregnant with our first, I didn't feel ready to be a dad. Every shift in my life, every role I've stepped into, every opportunity that's come my way, I've never felt ready. And I've always questioned whether I'm missing
the boat, I'm missing what God's saying, I'm reading it wrong, surely I'm not the guy to do this, surely now's not the time, surely if I had a little bit more time to research and get experience, I would feel ready.
Graham Cochrane (02:57.752)
But I've never felt ready for anything. And it makes me wonder if I had waited to do any of those things, what would I have missed out on? Friend, I don't want you to miss out on anything in your life, in your family, in your finances, or in your business. And so today I wanna share with you a powerful story that I think you will relate to, I know I do, share some powerful concepts. And I wanna challenge you because I think
that if you're listening to this or watching this, there is some opportunity in front of you, some new season or chapter that God's brought to your life and you're hesitating. And I want to challenge you and say, why not you? Why not now? What are you waiting for? And my hope is that by the end of this episode, you will actually take that step of faith into whatever it is that God has got for you. So there is a famous story.
in the book of Exodus in the Bible, Exodus chapter three and four, about a very famous man named Moses. You might know Moses even if you don't read the Bible as the guy that parted the Red Sea and he helped all of God's people, the Israelites, escape from slavery and captivity in Egypt. They wander in a desert for 40 years. He writes the Ten Commandments as God gives them to him on the top of Mount Sinai. Crazy miracles happen and Moses is
the quintessential leader of the Israelites for this 40 year period. But I want you to hear how this legend, this icon in the Jewish faith and the Christian faith in all of history, there's how many movies have been made about Moses, like amazing dude, and incredible leadership lessons that people learn from him as he becomes a leader, but the genesis of this icon, of this legend, look at how it begins. It almost doesn't happen. This guy,
tries to talk himself out of his greatness and his destiny four times. Listen to this. Exodus chapter three, starting in verse one, one day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. So context, Moses actually grew up in Pharaoh's house. He grew up in the palace. He was going to be, he was basically the...
Graham Cochrane (05:22.272)
adopted son of the Pharaoh, so he was brothers with the Pharaoh-to-be. He was wealthy, he was educated, he was powerful. And he has this sort of slip-up moment where he tries to defend one of his Hebrew brothers, because he actually is a Hebrew and not an Egyptian by nationality. He sees one of his fellow brethren being beaten, and so he actually murders a guy. He murders his Egyptian and tries to cover up the body, but then people start to find out about it. He fears for his life, and so he flees. So his first 40 years of life,
He's growing up in wealth and in privilege and in power. And then the last 40 years of his life up to this point from age 40 to 80, he's been literally a shepherd living in the wilderness. And he's like, I'm getting out of the city. I'm getting out of the drama. And he likes his simple life. So he's just tending sheep and he comes up to this mountain. Number two, there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire in the middle of a bush. This is the burning bush moment if you've ever heard about it. Moses stared in amazement.
Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. This is amazing, Moses said to himself. Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it. When the Lord saw Moses coming to take her closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied. Verse five, do not come any closer, the Lord warned. Take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground. So he goes on to say,
I'm the God of your ancestors. I see the captivity and the way the Egyptians are treating my people and I won't stand for it. I'm aware of their suffering," he says in verse 7. And he's like, I'm going to free them.
And he literally says in verse 10, now go, for I'm sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people out of Egypt. Okay, so Moses is just blown away by what's up with this burning bush. It's pretty cool. I'm going to check it out. And then he's like, oh my gosh, like there's a voice in the bush and it's like God, it's like the God of my ancestors is speaking to me. And he's aware of the suffering happening in the world and he wants to do something about it. And oh, interestingly enough, he wants to use
Graham Cochrane (07:30.895)
a human to do it, which pause by the way, this is how God does most of His work in case you're wondering. God sees the injustices and God sees the things that He wants to bring to pass, but He typically uses you and me, which is crazy. I don't know why He chooses to use us, but He does, and therefore that means He will come to us in moments of prayer or just while we're pumping gas. He could start speaking to you and all of a sudden He could call you to do something.
And you might find yourself in this sort of Moses burning bush moment where you have an opportunity to respond to the call. The call might be explicit like out of a burning bush like Moses had or it might be a dream that keeps popping in your head. It might be a thought that's pervasive. It might be showing up in every book and every movie you read. It's something you can't shake. God is trying to say something to you. But this is where we get to. I want you to see something is that God for one doesn't even ask
If Moses feels ready, he just tells him what I want you to do.
He's like, here's your destiny. This is what you're going to do. You're going to go set my people free. This is your assignment. And he doesn't even ask, hey, how do you feel about this? Do you have any questions? Like he just says, this is what I want you to do. And there are three responses, really four, but there's three responses and then a dagger at the end that Moses has. Here's the first response, verse 11. But Moses protested to God.
Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? The first question, the first thing that Moses goes to is identity. Who am I to do this? Have you ever asked yourself that? Who am I to start a business? I've never started a business. I don't have a business plan or a business degree.
Graham Cochrane (09:29.4)
Who am I to plant a church? Who am I to write a book about this subject? I'm not an expert. Experts write books, not me. Who am I to start a podcast on parenting? Who am I to coach people for weight loss? I don't have certifications. I'm a nobody. Ever felt that? Who am I? So we often disqualify ourselves before we even step into the opportunity because
of either our past experiences or our self-imaged. We have a picture of ourselves which is largely inaccurate.
And so we respond to destiny, we respond to calling, we respond to purpose that's being offered to us, we respond to opportunities, open doors with, who am I to do this?
Graham Cochrane (10:23.874)
When I started my first business, I felt through prayer and talking with other people who listen to God, love God, read His word, that I should start what was a side business when I used to have a job and turn it into a full-time business. So I had a side hustle for three years recording musicians. When I lost my job because of the recession and now we're on food stamps and I have a baby and a wife and a mortgage, I felt the Lord say, hey, now's the time to go all in on your business.
And so I kind of had that nudge. It was like this opportunity. It was like this calling. But the first question I had was, well, who am I to start a business, like a legit business, especially when I had the idea to start a YouTube channel? Who am I to be educating on YouTube around recording music? Like I'm just a guy. There's plenty of other people that know how to do this better than I do, at least as good as I do, but definitely better. Like I'm not special and I was...
discounting my ability to serve people based off of my own self-image of who I saw myself to be. This is an identity question. Moses views himself as now like, bro, I'm a shepherd. Like I don't even talk to people. I lead sheep. I don't lead people. I certainly can't go back to Pharaoh. I can't go back to Egypt. I killed a guy back there years ago, 40 years ago, and I left. So,
I am not the guy to go talk to Pharaoh and lead your one million plus people out of captivity. I am not the guy. Do you feel like that? Like I'm not the girl, I'm not the guy to do this because of the way you view yourself? Your identity that you've chosen or that you've adopted or that you've decided that that's who you are can literally hold you back from all that God wants you to become and to do. And it's
It's so sad that we limit ourselves based off of this frame we've created around who we think we are. It's to help us better understand ourselves. Okay, this is who I am, I do this type of work, I have this type of level of influence and experience, and so I'm gonna put a frame around it, I'm gonna put a wrapping around it, and I feel comfortable, yeah, that's who I am. And that's how people know me anyway. This same thing came up for me when I knew after seven years of running the recording revolution.
Graham Cochrane (12:41.792)
and building a million dollar plus year business, 600 plus thousand subscribers on YouTube, collaborating with Grammy award winning producers and musicians and living out all of my dreams. After seven years of that, when I had this burning desire to help people launch and grow their businesses online and I couldn't shake it, I started to get scared because I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm a music guy, I'm the music recording dude.
on the internet and that's how my friends know me, that's how I even know me, that's how my extended family know me. I'm not a business coach. Like, that's not who I am. I couldn't even see myself as a business coach. So I literally got the idea in 2016 and I punted on launching this business for two years. I waited 24 whole months before I started because I was struggling with this identity. But I view myself as this. I can't see myself as this.
you related to this? Can you identify with what I'm saying here? If you get hung up on the who am I question, you will not step into God's best for your life. We will never feel like we are the person that can do the thing. Just telling you straight up. Here's good news, right? I love this phrase, that God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
If God has put a dream in your heart, if you can't shake this concept, this vision, this idea that's in your mind, of course you don't feel qualified to do it because you've probably never done it before. But if you're called to it, if it's a dream that you can't shake, you have to expand your view of your identity. Check this out. Here's God's response. So God gives him this assignment. Moses says, who am I to do this? God responds to this. Ready? He says,
God answered, verse 12, I will be with you.
Graham Cochrane (14:41.122)
When Moses says, am I to do this? God's answer is, I will be with you. Friend, I don't know where you are in your faith journey, but the only thing that will give you true peace as you adventure in life and step into new ground and take new territory and do crazy, bold things and pursue your dreams, the only thing that will bring you comfort other than just like trying to pump yourself up and...
and conjure up confidence, which you can for a moment, but it won't last. The only lasting comfort that will help you step into your true identity and calling is knowing that God is with you. Jesus called himself Emmanuel. Actually, he was prophesied to be Emmanuel six, 700 years earlier by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter nine, where he talks about this son will be born to us and he will be everlasting father.
the Prince of Peace, he will be Emmanuel, which means God living with us, like God among his people. This is the God of the Bible, right? The God of Christianity is not a God that's distant. He is a God that's with us. And the only way he can actually be with us right now is if you become a Christian, you accept Christ as your savior, the Bible says that God the Holy Spirit lives inside of you.
takes up residence inside of you. So that is how God can be with you. So God's solution to the identity problem of who am I to go do this big thing is, hey, I'll be with you. Which makes so much sense. Like when I tried to help my daughters learn how to swim and we were getting in the pool and they were really, really young, and they're like, daddy, I can't swim. Don't worry. Daddy will be with you in the pool. I'm not going to throw you in the pool by yourself. Daddy will be with you. Okay.
because they trust me, they know they're safe with me, they don't feel competent, they don't view themselves as a swimmer, but if daddy's gonna hold me and be with me, I at have some comfort in knowing that I'm not gonna be alone in this. And if you're a parent, you know this. Your kids will have more boldness to step out into something new if they know you're gonna be with them. It's the same as when you're transitioning someone in a role. When you train someone,
Graham Cochrane (16:55.51)
Right? There's this whole model. If I'm gonna bring on someone on my team, let's say, a new marketing assistant or a new assistant coach or whoever it be, it would be first, watch me do it. Then the second phase would be, I'll do it with you. And then the third phase is, I'll watch you do it now that you've done it. And all three phases, we're together. Okay, watch me do this thing first. Okay, now you've seen me do it.
You do it and I'll do it with you. We'll do it together. And then once we've done it together, I want to watch you do it by yourself, but I'll be right here in case you have any questions. That's the model of training people. And so this is what God's solution is. It's like, bro, I know you don't feel like you can do this. I know you don't feel like you're the guy to lead. You've been a shepherd for 40 years. I'm not clueless, bro. But here's my answer to you. Here's my solution to your identity problem. I will be with you. No greater promise than that. And I don't know how you can step out into bold new callings.
without God's presence with you. All right, moving on. This conversation goes on and on and on. Moses has a bajillion follow up questions like, well, okay, I might believe in you, but what if the Israelites don't know who you are and they want proof that you're real and he has all these practical questions, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Skip a few verses ahead, Exodus four, verse one. After God gives them all these answers, don't worry, you'll do this, you can explain this. Moses.
Verse one, but Moses protested again. What if they don't believe me or listen to me? What if they say the Lord never appeared to you? Which are great questions, by the way. Like, hey, I'm talking to a burning bush here. What if they say, you're crazy, Moses. What if they don't believe my story? What if they don't listen to me? What if they say that I'm making this up? So here's the third thing. The first question is, who am I? This is a question of identity. The second question we have that keeps us from our destiny is the what if question.
It's the implications question. So if the first question is the identity question, the second one is the implications. Well, what are the implications of this thing? Who am I to start this business is an identity question. What if this business fails is an implication question. What if people laugh at me when I tell them I'm quitting my job and starting my business is an implication question. What if I don't have what it takes and I actually am not good enough is an implication question. What if it works for a while but then it runs out of money is an implication question. Does this make sense?
Graham Cochrane (19:21.486)
So now we go from identity, who am I to do this, to projecting out our fears, which aren't really fears, they're just anxiety. Because a fear is like there's an actual impending danger, and so you have a true fear, like there's a lion attacking me, that would be true fear. And anxiety is like, it has fear-like responses, but over something that's not happening, or hasn't happened, or might not even happen. But you can create that same kind of visceral mental and physical response.
to a projection of a fear and anxiety about the future. Well, what if this happens? What if that happens? And this is exactly what I did when I started my first business. What will people say? What will my friends say? Like we were planting a church at the time. We were all volunteers helping out. What will my pastor say? Like what are you doing? Like what will my family members say at Christmas? Like, hey, have you applied for a job yet? Like, no, I'm not applying for a job. I'm blogging now on the internet about audio recording. Like, why are you doing that? Like a lot of those...
the what if questions, I had to deal with some of those. But we project into the future. This is crazy. The moment you become successful, let's just say it's in business and you have a goal, I wanna be making $500,000 a year, which I don't know where you are in your journey, but that might sound crazy for you, you might be like, I did that last month. But when you haven't reached that, let's say that's your goal, you finally do reach it, there's this.
moment of euphoria because like holy mess. I am making more money than most doctors and lawyers and more money than the president makes in the US, right? And I'm just teaching cool stuff, coaching cool stuff. And it's so exciting. You go out and buy a new car, upgrade your house, take your kids and your wife on an awesome vacation, pay off some debt, go to an incredible restaurant and just blow money and not even look at it. Like it's so much fun. And then the moment the euphoria passes, which is usually a week later,
you have a new implication question. What if this all goes away? What if I can't repeat my success? Here's the one I had when I was about to start the second business and I was really questioning my worth. Am I really good enough to be a business coach? What if I just got lucky? So now this isn't even an implication of a future event happening. This is the implication of maybe what happened in the past.
Graham Cochrane (21:37.037)
wasn't because I'm actually good enough, it's because I just got lucky. And let me be honest, we all know that there is some element of timing and luck that we can't control in our success and our story. But that fear crept up big time for me. What if I can't replicate my success? What if I got successful in this first business, but I go try to replicate it in business number two and it just...
Now I'm super embarrassed. I would have rather have stayed in the first business and everyone think I'm great because I finally got over that fear and at least I am great in their minds rather than start the second business. People laugh, look at him. He thought he was so good. He could go start another business and replicate his success. That kept me tripped up for months. For months.
Does this resonate with you? This is the implication question. What are the implications? What if, what if, what if? If you find yourself so desperately wanting to pursue a dream or a calling, but you're resorting to these what if questions, these fears or these implications, you gotta ask yourself how long are you gonna live by the what ifs and the implications, potential implications versus the destination you wanna be at?
I had a really massive YouTuber reach out to me a few months back in response to one of my videos. It was amazing that he even watches the videos. I think he's got like six million subscribers. And he reached out in response to one of the questions inside the episode about like the true desire of your heart that you're afraid to pursue. And he answered the question to me privately on an Instagram DM. And he said, here's, I listened to the episode, it rocked me. Here's what I want.
And he filled in the prompt, so desperately want, because that's what I told them to write down, I so desperately want blank, but I'm afraid of blank. Okay, so he filled it out. Here's what he wrote, I so desperately want to simplify my business, but I'm afraid that if I do, revenue will plummet. This is a classic example of an implication question. He knows exactly what he wants to step into, a simpler business, something I would call an effortless business.
Graham Cochrane (23:55.577)
but he's stuck at the implication question, well what if I do that but revenue plummets?
So we imagine worst case scenarios and we oftentimes talk ourselves out of best case callings. Here's what I absolutely love. When Moses says, if, what if, in verse one, what if they don't believe me? What if they don't listen to me? What if they say that the Lord never appeared to you? You want to know what God's response is in the very next verse? Verse two of Exodus chapter four. Then the Lord asked him, what is that in your hand?
Graham Cochrane (24:33.432)
Now for context, he's holding a shepherd's staff and God goes on to say, throw it down to the ground and then it turns into a snake and then he says, pick it back up by the tail and it turns back into a staff and then he says, put your hand in your cloak and pull it out and it's all leprous and falling apart and he says, put it back in and then it's healed. He's showing Moses that he can do these miracles and these signs and wonders through him.
Because again, he told them, will be with you. That's the reason why the identity question can be obliterated. It doesn't matter who you think you are. If God is with you, you can go into any room with confidence. But when Moses says, what if this happens? What if they don't believe me? What if this happens? I love God's answer. It's a question. It's not even an answer. It's a question that has an answer baked into it, which is what is in your hand?
Friend, this is the question you need to ask yourself. This is the question I need to ask myself. When you're afraid, when you know what you want to do and you know what your calling is, even vaguely, you don't have to have it perfectly mapped out, none of us do, but you're like, I so desperately want to move in this direction or step into this or try this thing, but I'm asking the identity question, who am I? I'm asking the implication questions, what if this happens? God's answer to those questions, so that what if question that plagues you is,
What's in your hand? What do you have right in front of you? Like, yes, I get it. You don't feel like you're an expert. I get it. You don't feel like you have the credibility. I get it. You don't feel like anyone's gonna even know you exist. You don't have the reach on the internet. I get it. You've never charged a high ticket price before. I get it. But what do you have in your hand? Stop telling me what you don't have. Stop telling me what probably is gonna fall apart. Let's look at what you have in your hand and let's start.
there.
Graham Cochrane (26:22.616)
When I started my first business, the recording revolution, I didn't know anything about this world. I didn't know what an online course was. I didn't know about email marketing. I didn't know what a funnel was. I didn't know what a webinar was. Like none of this stuff, some of it existed, but I didn't know about it. I came from corporate America. I was just a normal dude. So I had no image or visual for what to expect.
But God said, well, Graham, what do you have in your hand? What did I have in my hand? I had a simple home recording studio. I had some music I was working on for myself and for one other client. And I was like, well, and I had a crappy camcorder. If you want to laugh, go to YouTube, look up the recording revolution, you'll find my first channel, and then click on my videos and sort by oldest to newest. Watch my first video and laugh at me.
I filmed this video, I think I'm teaching how to mic up an acoustic guitar. I filmed this video in my spare bedroom. I'm broke as a joke when this video's filmed, by the way. I filmed it at night. Bad idea. With no lighting correction. Actually, there was one lamp, but it was behind my head, which makes no sense. So there's my back of my head's lit up, but you can't see. My face is in a shadow, and I'm using a red crappy camcorder. I had no iPhone.
I had no high def video. It was this crappy camcorder that we owned from when we went on a vacation together and it shot in like 380p, whatever that is, at night. So it's super grainy because cheap lenses and cameras only can look half decent if there's good lighting. I didn't know about that. It looked awful. My neck is like three times too big. I'm staring blankly like a deer in the headlights because I've never filmed a video before and I'm thinking about what to say next while I say the thing I'm currently saying.
And I look like a serial killer. And that launched the $1.2 million dollar year of business. And to this day I still have people when I make fun of that video say, I still love that video. I learned a lot about how to mic up an acoustic guitar from that video. But it got me started. What did I have in my hand? A simple home recording studio, a little bit of knowledge and experience, and a crappy red camcorder. And a spare bedroom.
Graham Cochrane (28:39.362)
And the only time I could film it with my baby not crying was at night. That's what I had in my hand. And that's how I started what became, what has become now 15 plus million dollars generated online. It's crazy. That's the miracle. Like God did the miracle. I just used and have always used what's in my hand. What size audience do I have? That's it. What knowledge do I have? Okay, that's it. What experience do I have? That's all I got. Right, I don't have anything special. I'm not special.
I'm not, I'm just using whatever I have and using the mess out of it and like asking God to bless it and be in it and multiply it. Friend, if you feel like you're asking yourself the implication questions all day, what if, what if, remember what God said to Moses, what's in your hand? And that's my question for you. Stop thinking about the future. Think about what's, stop, stop. He's like, Moses, you're already like steps ahead, bro. Focus back here to the present moment.
What do you have in your hand? What's in front of you right now? Just use that, just do that. Forget about the implications. Stop what-ifing yourself to death, right? All right, number three, this is where Moses says one of the most like relatable things, period. After all this stuff about the staff.
And God says, they're going to be, if they don't believe this sign, they'll believe this sign. I'm to do all these signs. Then Moses doesn't even respond because God's been talking about all the signs he's going to do through Moses. And then Moses changes the subject completely. Verse 10, Exodus 4, verse 10. But Moses pleaded with the Lord, Lord, changing subjects, I'm not very good with words. I never have been and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue tied and my words get tangled.
So Moses is like literally not even listening. He's not listening to what God has to say. He's just coming up with more excuses. So he's gone from the identity question, who am I, to the implications question, what if they don't listen, to the incompetent statement, which is, I'm not good enough. I'm not very good with words, he says. So who am I to do this? That's not who I am. I'm not a coach.
Graham Cochrane (31:03.682)
I'm not a person that charges premium prices. I'm not this, I'm not that. I'm not a YouTuber. Then we go to the implication question. Well, what if this happens? What if that happens? What if they laugh at me? What if I can't pull it off? What if, what if, what if, what if we can't pay our bills? What if I regret quitting my job? What if, what if? And then finally, we just get down to straight facts of incompetence. I'm not competent enough. I'm not good enough. I don't have what it takes to do this. I just don't.
We feel like we don't have the skills. It's the ultimate imposter syndrome. Yeah, I could fake it. I could pretend I'm the guy. I can ignore the what ifs, but at the end of the day, I know I don't have what it takes. I'm not good enough. I don't have the skill. Now, some of you feel competent to do a lot of things, but most often, the thing that God's really calling you to step into, the destiny that he has for you is much bigger than you are by design. It's meant to draw you closer to him to
be pulled away from this Western American, I'm self-reliant and I'm independent into a relationship of dependence and God-reliance, which is the only thing that will set you free and make you powerful, by the way. There's a limit to what you can do. There's no limit to what God can do through you.
So it's inevitable that you and I are gonna say, I'm not good enough. I can't do this. Makes total sense. Yes, you're probably right. And no amount of telling yourself, I'm good enough, I'm good enough is the solution. That's not the solution. You can have affirmations, you can have declarations about your identity, about who you are, but saying like that you're better than you are over and over again doesn't make you better.
And it certainly doesn't make you feel confident long term.
Graham Cochrane (32:58.19)
So if you've ever felt like you're literally not good enough to do the thing that you feel so desperately called to do or you desperately want to do, here's God's response.
Moses says in verse 10, I'm not good enough. I'm not a good speaker. I'm not good with words. Verse 11 and 12, they go together. The Lord asked Moses, again, he doesn't tell him an answer. answers the question with a question. Who makes a person's mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak? Hear or do not hear? See or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? And then an exclamation point. Verse 12, now go. He's getting irritated.
I will be with you as you speak. So we already know that in the identity question, right? I will be with you or in the implications question, right? And I will instruct you in what to say.
I will be with you. I will instruct you." So God's response is, I make people good. I'm the one that qualifies people. I'm the one that gives people skill. I'm the skill giver. I'm the master maker. Anyone who's excellent at anything is because I made them that way. So if you don't feel good enough, you're literally giving me pointless information. If I've called you to do something, because I'm going to make you good enough to do it.
I—oh, you've identified a weakness, Moses? you've identified a weakness you have, Graham? Wow! Congratulations! Guess what? That is exactly why I've called you to do this, so I can show up and show you my strength.
Graham Cochrane (34:35.15)
Paul writes about this in the New Testament, I will boast all the more in my weaknesses because God's power is made perfect in my weakness. This is very crazy to the outside world, which is like, you gotta show power, you gotta feel powerful, you gotta make yourself feel powerful. Who in their right mind will identify and boast in their weaknesses? Someone who understands that where you feel weak, especially if it's tied to your calling, is exactly where God can and wants to show up.
and show up strong for you and make you strong and deliver power in your life. So if you want to feel powerful, you want to feel strong, then congratulations. If you feel weak and you're pursuing the calling God has in your life, the dreams he's put in your heart, you're going to see his power show up. You may not be the one that's powerful, but you will get to experience his power, right? Literally, God says to Moses, I will instruct you in what to say. If you don't know what to do first, second or third,
God's like, don't worry, I'll tell you what to do. I'll tell you what to say. Isaiah says it in, I think it's chapter 30.
He says, if you consult with the Holy Spirit versus consulting with the powerful people in Egypt, who are you getting your wisdom from? If you consult with the Holy Spirit, he's like, I will be like a voice whispering behind you, go to the left, go to the right. There's this promise, this thread throughout scripture that God doesn't tell you what to do with all the steps ahead of time, but he does promise to tell you what to do every moment you need to know what to do. In the moment, at the right time, often in the 11th hour, as they say, God will say, do this, talk to this person, send this email.
Respond in this way. Here's the answer you've been praying for.
Graham Cochrane (36:18.382)
God will instruct you. God will make you capable. God will make you good enough because you aren't good enough without Him. Jesus says, apart from me, you can do nothing, John chapter 15. He says, we're the vine and he's the branches. The only way we can have power and bear fruit is to stay connected to the vine, stay connected to the branches. So if you want to have fruitfulness in your life, like productivity and impact and influence and money and...
and truly help people like I know you do, the only way to do it is to stay connected to Jesus. The only way to do it is to do it with Jesus. If you try to do it apart from Him, good luck. You'll have a limit to what you can do, but if you want limitless impact, you got to stay connected to God. And He'll tell you what to do as you go, so you don't have to feel alone.
So Moses responds to his destiny with identity questions. Who am I to do this? Implication questions. What if this happens? What if that happens? And just flat out incompetence. I'm not good enough. And God responds to all three. I will be with you. Look at what's in your hand and just use that. And I will help you and instruct you.
Graham Cochrane (37:34.927)
And friend, even that's not good enough. Look at what Moses does at the very end. Right after that, right after God says, I will be with you as you speak and I will instruct you in what to say, Moses' true fear just takes over and in verse 13 of Exodus 4, but Moses again pleaded, Lord, please send anyone else.
Graham Cochrane (38:02.69)
There it is. Like there's the truth. The who am I? The what if? I'm not good enough. All of those were dancing around the true desire, which wasn't his actual desire, but the true thing he wanted to get off his chest in that moment, which is, I don't want to do this because I'm scared. Please send somebody else. Have you ever felt that? Have you ever felt like,
Can you just ask somebody else to do this? Like I can't be the girl to do this. I can't be the guy to do this. It's just little of me. Like I don't want the responsibility. That sounds like a lot.
Graham Cochrane (38:47.31)
You ever felt that?
The stuff I feel like God's calling me to do?
Graham Cochrane (38:56.718)
my God, just let somebody else do that. Like, I'm sure somebody else could do a better job than me. Like, just like, I'm comfortable where I am at. Like, yes, I want that destiny, but it's almost easier if I just talk myself out of it. If you just send somebody else.
Graham Cochrane (39:14.402)
What's crazy about this in the story of Moses is that God gets really frustrated with him. He's like, bro, I have answered all of your doubts and fears by giving you incredible promises.
Graham Cochrane (39:27.886)
But two things happen. God says, okay, fine, I'll send you with your brother-in-law, Aaron. You do the leading and the miracles, he can do the speaking. If that's the part you really need help. And there's something pretty beautiful about that, that if you really feel like you need some help, God can bring a partner. God can bring someone to help you do it. You don't have to do everything on your own, even from a human standpoint.
But the reason God's frustrated, because if you see in verse 14, then the Lord became angry with Moses. All right, he said, what about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look, here he comes, he's on his way to meet you now. Talk to him, put the words in his mouth, I will be with both of you as you speak and I will instruct you both in what to do. And so I love that answer and that sweet kindness of the Lord to then,
meet Moses where he's at in his fears. But the reason God became angry with Moses is not because Moses was weak. God knew he was weak. That did not surprise him. It was because he didn't trust God. He didn't have the faith in God. He was thinking all about himself.
Graham Cochrane (40:46.474)
Anytime I have been afraid to step out in a new direction or in a bold area that I feel like God's calling me into, rarely is it because I don't want to do it. It's because I'm so focused on myself and not focused enough on God.
Graham Cochrane (41:07.34)
And so the solution for you and for I to have the boldness, to have the confidence, to have the peace, the determination, the guts to go on this adventure and step into your destiny, step into this opportunity, step into the calling that's in front of you, the door that you just so desperately want to push through that's being opened as we speak is to stop looking at yourself. Who am I to do this? What if this happens? Am I good enough? And start looking at the God of the universe.
who will give you a new identity, who knows all the implications and has answers for all of them, who will instruct you, who will help you, who will speak to you and guide you and be with you the entire time. When you focus on Him and you have faith in Him and you, as Proverbs 3 says, lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways trust in God,
then good things start to happen. So this is a little deep dive into a very human and relatable story in the book of Exodus with Moses, but you're the hero in your own little story. You're the title character in your story that the Lord is writing in your life. My question for you is,
Where are you telling God that you're not enough? Where are you telling the circumstances in front of you you're not enough? What if this is the exact place He wants you to be, feeling not ready, feeling like you shouldn't be the person? What if He wants to show His power through you?
What if this is your burning bush moment?
Graham Cochrane (42:44.11)
Don't let it pass you by. Don't talk yourself out of God's best for your life.
You're not supposed to ever feel ready. You're just supposed to trust and be a person of action.
If I've learned anything in the last 20 plus years of doing crazy stuff, moving across the country, leaving jobs, losing jobs, starting businesses, raising kids as a super young couple, being broke, having wealth, everything in between. If I've learned anything over the last 20 years, it's that I have never felt ready and I will never feel ready. But the great things in my life never came from me feeling like all the ducks were lined up and everything was in a row.
and feeling ready to pursue it. They came from me stepping into it and walking with the Lord, trusting Him and being ready to go on the adventure. So I challenge you.
What's in your hand? What bold step of action and faith do you need to take today to step into your destiny and calling? If you know what it is, leave a comment below on YouTube or message me on Instagram. I hope and pray that this blessed you today and encourage you and challenge you. I hope you have an amazing rest of your week and we'll see you on another episode real soon.
