Judges 9:8-15
One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?' Next, the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be our king.' But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?' "Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be our king.' But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?' Finally all the trees said to the thorn bush, 'Come and be our king.' The thorn bush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'
I don’t particularly understand the parable above, but it reminded me of a time when I was a missionary in Japan and was wondering when I was going to get to go home.  I needed to know if God wanted me to stay in Japan or return to the States.  I read about how people used to inquire of a prophet about God’s will, and the Holy Spirit put it in my heart to ask Kyoko (Pastor Jun’s wife), who has the gift of prophecy, to pray for me.  She did, and later gave me the verses above, saying, “I don’t know why God gave this to me for you, but He said you’d understand it.”
As I read it, I realized that while I knew there were other people who could be far better missionaries than I; God was asking me to be the missionary there.  I didn’t want to be like the qualified trees in the parable that made excuses for why they couldn’t lead, and I certainly didn’t want a thorn bush to end up leading.
All this to say, if God calls us to do something, no matter how unworthy or unskilled we feel, faith demands that we obey and trust Him with the results.  I have no idea why God chose me to go to Japan and work there, but I’m really glad He did.  It was a privilege and I’m glad I was able to obey. 

Joy