Monday Memo 1253: "Put Me In, Coach"
There comes a point in every purpose journey when preparation must give way to action. There is a season for learning, a season for waiting, and a season for development, but eventually there must also be a season for going and doing. And you must cooperate with that last season. That’s why I wrote the book, Put Me In, Coach: Living a Bold Life. At one point in my life, I realized I had the experience, the education, and the opportunity. It was time to express the potential I had developed in Christ.
Paul arrived at that moment in Acts 13 when the Holy Spirit spoke to the leaders in Antioch and said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” That statement is one of the most important turning points in Paul’s life. Everything up to this point had been preparation. His upbringing in Tarsus, his training under Gamaliel, his zeal as a Pharisee, his encounter on the Damascus road, his hidden years, and his ministry in Antioch had all been shaping him for this assignment. The calling wasn’t created in Acts 13; it was revealed and confirmed.
We sometimes think purpose is discovered only in dramatic moments, but often clarity comes while we’re already engaged in faithful service. God tends to guide moving people. If you’re waiting for perfect certainty before you begin serving, learning, or growing, you may wait a very long time. Paul’s story suggests that assignment often becomes clear while we’re already active and available.
The phrase “set apart” also deserves attention. To be set apart means to be separated for a specific reason or purpose. That separation usually requires leaving something behind. For Paul and Barnabas, it meant leaving the stability and familiarity of Antioch to travel into uncertain territory. It meant stepping away from what was comfortable in order to embrace what was necessary.
That’s one of the costs of purpose. You can’t always stay where things are familiar and still move forward into what God has next. Sometimes purpose requires you to leave behind routines, relationships, expectations, or environments that once served you well but are no longer where you’re supposed to remain. You have to go where you’re celebrated, where your purpose is recognized and received, which is God’s way of confirming you’re where you need to be.
Have you ever sensed that tension in your own life? Perhaps there was a moment when you realized you couldn’t stay where you were and still obey what God was showing you. Those moments can be unsettling because they require faith. Preparation feels safer than assignment because preparation allows you to stay in development mode. Assignment requires movement and involves some risk. But then again, faith always does that.
There comes a time when more learning, planning, or hesitation are no longer the answers. That doesn’t mean acting recklessly or impulsively. Paul’s story makes it clear that preparation matters. In fact, this series has repeatedly shown how carefully God prepared him over time. Yet all preparation has a purpose, and eventually what has been developed internally must be expressed externally.
The church in Antioch also participated in the sending process. They prayed, fasted, laid hands on Paul and Barnabas, and sent them off. That reminds us that healthy spiritual communities do not merely gather people; they release people. Their goal is not to keep everyone comfortable and stationary so they can “build their numbers,” but to help people fulfill what God has called them to do.
I was once part of a movement that was in perpetual preparation. We called it discipleship, and we were strong on the preparation but weak on the release. People were always being developed, but no one was ever “good enough” to play the game. That’s in part why I am so passionate to see people doing what they were created to do. I wasted many years playing in the minor leagues when I was ready for the majors. “Put Me In, Coach” became my motto and mantra, and God has answered my cry, using me while still preparing me.
Perhaps you are in that kind of season right now. Maybe God has been developing you quietly for years, and now the time has come to move, to do, to speak, to sing, to act. If so, don’t let fear disguise itself as wisdom. Don’t let endless preparation become an excuse for inaction. There’s a time to prepare, but there’s also a time to go.
Paul’s life reminds us that God is faithful in both seasons. He prepares us carefully, and then He calls us forward purposefully. When preparation becomes assignment, the question is no longer whether you’re learning. The question is whether you’re willing to obey.
Your Turn
Think about an area where you sense God prompting you to move from preparation into action. What practical step could you take this week to begin responding to that prompting?
What Would Paul Ask You?
What are you continuing to prepare for that God may already be asking you to begin?
Purpose Moment
Ask God to show you whether you are in a season of preparation or assignment. If He’s calling you to move forward, ask Him for courage to act instead of continuing to delay. Then take one clear step in obedience.