Tuesday, December 22, 2015

On Feeling Inadequate

Lately I've been feeling rather inadequate. Inadequate to be a loving wife. Inadequate to lead ministry. Inadequate to follow Christ well. And it's pretty easy to get down on myself, until God's Word shines light into the darkness and I see that feeling inadequate is actually a really, really good thing when you have a more-than-adequate God. Check it out—Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5) 

I really like how one commentary sums it up: There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. In other words, I can never claim the glory because there is nothing in me that makes me capable, except Christ working in me... so Christ always gets the glory. And there is never any reason that I should believe that I can do life on my own. There is never any reason to believe that I don't need God working in me, that I don't need His ever-present power and strength.


God is writing the story of my life—and I'm so grateful that He is. Because if I was writing it I would always be confident and adequate and capable—never lacking anything. I would be able to do it all on my own. But then I wouldn't ever have to rely and depend on Christ. His strength would never be made perfect in my weakness. He would never get the glory. And a story like that—it honestly doesn't sound like a very good story. In fact, a story without an all-powerful God working His power through weak, inadequate human beings wouldn't even be a story worth reading. 

So next time you find yourself feeling inadequate, rather than beating yourself up over it, why not invite God to work through your inadequacies? Why not ask Him to show up in big ways and be your all-sufficient power? Acknowledge that His strength is made perfect in your weaknesses, and allow Him to get the glory for any work in your life—because He's the one who did the work in the first place, and He will continue it on until completion. What a good God we serve!


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