If Not Me…

If Not Me...12-13-25

I was watching TV this morning with my husband. The story was about The Jay Fund. It is an organization that has been in existence for over 30 years. Funds raised are for families of children with cancer. It was started by Tom Coughlin. Coughlin was most notably head coach of the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He spoke this morning about starting the Foundation after he was head coach at Boston College, and a player was diagnosed with and passed away from leukemia just 8 months later. That experience led him to begin the Jay Fund in 1996 while coaching at Jacksonville, Florida.

Just before I watched his segment, I watched another segment about The Travis Manion Foundation. The words, "If not me, Then who." is actually the words of Travis Manion. The Travis Manion Foundation was started by his family after his death on April 29, 2007 during his second deployment to Iraq. Travis' sister talked of Travis using these words just before his last deployment. She said these words were his ethos.

I often hear people say, "let someone else do that", or "if you don't do that, someone will". This happens to me all the time in my life, especially at work. To that, I reply, "God didn't tell someone else, He told me." I can't find anywhere in my Bible that we are instructed to sit back and let others do God's work. We are instructed to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10-11 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." My Bible does not tell me to sit back and let someone else do it. My Bible tells me to go tell the world about Jesus. Matthew 28:19-20. That is our commission.

If you know me, you know that I am not one to say, "Let someone else." I am usually the one to say, "I will." Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" I live with the understanding that if God asks me, I will do it. If I feel lead, I am going. If it is God's will, I want to follow. How do I know there will be someone who does, if I don't when Jesus asks.

These people that started the Foundations above did not sit back and let someone else. They stopped and listened like Samuel. 1 Samuel 3:4, "Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."