How to Do What You Know You Can't Do | Episode #45

What do you do when God asks you to do something you know you cannot do?

In this episode, Craig Walker explores the moment faith calls you beyond your ability. Through the story of Peter walking on water and Craig’s own journey writing Shameless: The Life You Were Born to Love, you’ll discover the three lies that keep people stuck—and how God’s grace supplies both the prompting and the power to do what seems impossible.

When Jesus says “Come,” will you step out of the boat?

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching

Get a copy of Craig's Book SHAMELESS The Life You Were Born to Love https://amzn.to/44vldsQ

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Sign up for the Truly a Masterpiece Workshop: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/resources (click on the block: Why Self-Doubt Keeps Returning — and How to Finally Break Free)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craigwalkercoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigwalkercoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-walker-1816367/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craig.walker.coach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@craigwalker9197

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craigwalkercoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigwalkercoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-walker-1816367/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craig.walker.coach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@craigwalker9197

Get a copy of Craig's Book SHAMELESS The Life You Were Born to Love https://amzn.to/44vldsQ

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craigwalkercoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigwalkercoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-walker-1816367/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craig.walker.coach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@craigwalker9197

Get a copy of Craig's Book SHAMELESS The Life You Were Born to Love https://amzn.to/44vldsQ

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craigwalkercoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigwalkercoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-walker-1816367/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craig.walker.coach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@craigwalker9197

Get a copy of Craig's Book SHAMELESS The Life You Were Born to Love https://amzn.to/44vldsQ

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Connect with Craig  @CraigWalkerCaoching
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/craigwalkercoaching
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/craigwalkercoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-walker-1816367/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craig.walker.coach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@craigwalker9197

Get a copy of Craig's Book SHAMELESS The Life You Were Born to Love https://amzn.to/44vldsQ

Join the Masterpiece Brotherhood Men's Group: https://craigwalkercoaching.com/brotherhood

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey friend, welcome to the True Dia Masterpiece podcast. I'm Craig Walker, founder of Craig Walker Coaching, author of the book Shameless, The Life You Were Born to Love, and the creator of the True Dia Masterpiece course and podcast. Now, if you've ever wrestled with self-doubt or shame, that voice that whispers that you're just not enough, or maybe the fear that people are about to figure you out, you're in the right place. I feel your pain. For most of my life, I lived with fear and insecurity until one night in 2014 when I told God, Enough. Like Jacob, I wrestled with him until he gave me the insights that changed everything. Today, by his grace, I live with more confidence, love, and joy than I ever thought possible. I want to help you do the same. Each week I'll share biblical truths, practical tools, and real stories from people who are just like you, but they won their battle with shame and self-doubt, and they're living that life that God created them to love. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in. This is gonna be fun. Let's get started. Hey guys, good to be with you today. Welcome back to the Truly Masterpiece podcast. Today I want to talk to you. I want to tell you how I wrote my book. Really, I want to tell you how you can do that which you think you can't do. There are a few things in life that you think you can't do, but honestly, if you tried hard enough, you probably could, right? But there are those other things that you truly cannot do. They're just beyond you. Trying harder won't fix it. You'd actually need a miracle to pull that off. And that's where most of us often become aware of God's grace. It's true that every good thing, every good thing, big or small, we do it because we get the ability from God's grace. The apostle Paul understood this best. He once wrote, I worked harder than any of the other apostles. But then, like, he has this moment of realization and he says, Yet not I, but the grace of God in me. It was just an awakening. It's grace. That's how we do what we do. Paul worked hard, but he realized something profound. The power behind his work was not his own. It was grace. A great place to be in life. But there are times when we say, I just can't do that. And this isn't fear talking. This isn't you talking from a lack of faith. It's just you being honest. You know what I'm talking about? What do you do? This is my question, though. What do you do when God asks you to do something that's truly beyond you? Think about it. Think about Peter walking on water, for example. And Jesus said, Come, Peter stepped out of the boat and took a few steps towards Jesus, literally doing that which he could not do. He walked on water. Now, faith, this comes from our knowledge of God. Sometimes faith prompts us to do exactly that. To see Jesus and say, Lord, is that you? To step out into what we just know that we can't do. If that happens in your life, here's my advice to you. Get out of the boat and start walking toward Him. Now, if you feel afraid, that doesn't mean that you lack faith. You know what it means? It means that you're human. The question isn't whether or not you're fearful. The question is always whether you step out of the boat. Years ago, God put something on my heart that I just genuinely thought was impossible for me. He prompted me to write a book. I tried. I didn't like what I wrote, so I tried again. I said, great, nobody will read that. So I tried it again. And eventually I just put the whole project on the shelf. I did that for about a year. Just prompting it, it just wouldn't go away. Finally, I sensed the Lord is urging me to finish the book, something that I thought I cannot do. I started over, new outline, new structure, and this time I actually liked a little bit or liked what I wrote a little bit. So I wrote it again and again, and after many more revisions, the book finally was published. Shameless the life that you were born to love. Now, there's something that I learned along the way, and this is what I want to pass on to you. It's something that all of us will have to learn if we're going to do that which we believe we cannot do. And genuinely, you may not be able to do it without the grace of God. I had to overcome three lies. Three lies we all tend to believe. Here it is, lie number one. It's just not worth the trouble. When you look at what feels impossible, and you think how hard that would be to even try it, and then to think there, and even then I'm gonna fail, why do it? It's not worth the trouble. Writing a book to me wasn't just an enormous task, it was an impossible task. My prompting wasn't just to write a book, it was to write a book and deal with something very difficult in a way that was very easy to read and understand, and people would like reading it, but I've never written a book before. I wasn't a grammarian. That's never been my strong point. No one has ever accused me of being a grammar scholar. No one. I could have listed a full page of reasons, probably two pages. Why I shouldn't even try. Looking at it from my perspective, I could say, you know, why try? But then I started looking at it from a different perspective. What if God had literally taught me something and he had that I could pass on to my children that literally would change their lives or the lives of others, and I never put it into print? What would I be robbing them of? And then what by the way, I've already told my kids that God's prompted me to do this and they know that I've tried. What example would I be setting for them and my friends that know me if I didn't do it? Suddenly, the struggle started feeling like it's worth the fight. Then I realized there's a second lie that I've got to overcome. Um, and that was a lie, the belief that if you start this, you're gonna be on your own. Truthfully, that's why I put the project on its shelf for a while. But being transparent, if you had asked me, I I never thought, God won't help me, that that just never entered my mind. I that's that's not how I was operating. But here's how I was operating. I just never thought God will help you write this book. We know that, we're taught that, but but I wasn't operating from that mindset. If if I'm no, let's stop. If if we, all of us are being honest, don't most of us live that way? Don't most of us act like everything depends on our ability, not on God's? You you want a quick test to find out if this is true or not? Check your prayer life. How much time do you spend working versus how much time you spend praying? At first, writing the book, it it did feel a lot like I was doing it all by myself. But as I progressed on through the process, I discovered something beautiful. God had been with me every word of the way. Like Paul, I initially could have told you how hard I had worked to write this book, but eventually I would have had to admit, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. Lie number three is you can't win. Even if you start it, why? You can't win. And by the way, I think this is one of the easiest lies for the enemy to sell us. When God asks you to do something that you've never done before, you start evaluating yourself. We all do it. You look at your talent, you look at your experiences, your skills, your past, and you conclude, um, I can't do this. Can I just tell you that's not necessarily a fear or lack of faith talking? It may be, but it's not necessarily that. That's just you being honest. And and remember, didn't Jesus say but don't begin something until you count the cost for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it. Otherwise, if you can't, then everyone will see and they'll laugh at you. So so don't start if you can't finish it. But here's an insight that you and I cannot afford to miss. In that passage, Jesus Jesus wasn't questioning whether you could do something. He was questioning whether you believed God could do it through you. Do you really believe? Yes? No, no, you can't do this alone. But yes, Jesus did say, with God's help, anything, anything is possible. Let me close with this powerful challenge from 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Paul wrote, So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of the Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. And this is all made possible because of the grace of the God, grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So here are my takeaways. Number one, there will be times your faith prompts you to do something that's absolutely impossible. Whether your faith prompts you to write a book, to start a business, to pursue a ministry, overcome self-doubt, whatever it may be, don't assume it can't be done. Whatever your faith prompts you to do. Second, remember, you're not doing it on your own. It is his power at work in you that makes it possible. Third, recognize you can win. Your vision, when brought into reality, will bring him glory, and he will glorify you along with him, and it's all made possible by the grace of our God. Finally, it's okay to question, Lord, is that you? If you conclude that's the Lord prompting you through faith to get out of the boat and get out of the boat and start walking on water. Hey, thanks for listening. I hope this encouraged you to take a step toward him in faith. If it has, uh listen, I want you to know that that you're not on your own. Please join us in the Masterpiece men's group. We'd love to have you in there. Uh we also have the Masterpiece workshop that you're welcome to join. It'll be coming up again the first, I think it's the first Wednesday of every month. The links are inside the notes. And may the Lord help you. This is my prayer for you every time. May the Lord help you to live that life that you were born to love.