Confident Inadequacy
Have you ever felt just a wee-bit inadequate and unqualified for a position or job? Can't that be a little irritating sometimes? How about for a position of ministry to others? Have you ever considered that being inadequate is a good thing? I think we too often perceive inadequacy in ourselves as something that is at the least unwelcome and perhaps even disdained.
Inadequacy is not something that goes well with what our contemporary culture has been telling us--I must believe in myself, be in control of my destiny, and always believe that I can do it, for I am what I make myself to be. And not only that, the feeling of inadequacy is probably a result of low self-esteem (and we all know how ruinous that can be to our fragile egos)!
I suggest on the other hand that a "confident inadequacy" is exactly what's needed when considering a situation where the Lord can use us. Let me explain. When we don't feel inadequate, we usually think that we can handle the situation based on our own capabilities. This will tend to cause us, likely unconsciously, to consider only those ideas from within ourselves and to become blind to a broader range of quite possibly better avenues with which to get the job done.
Feeling inadequate, on the other hand, leaves us feeling vulnerable and, even according to Merriam-Webster, in need of a greater power other than ourselves to get the job done. It leaves us much more likely to listen to that Greater Power (that Greater Power, obviously, is Jesus Christ) Who actually knows what we're trying to accomplish and how best to get it done. That's where, and only where, the confidence comes in; He can get it done!
When the Lord wants to work in your life, whether it involves foreign mission work, pastoring a church, teaching a children's club, or just in how you relate to those around you, I propose that inadequacy is not an abhorrent, unwelcome reaction, but rather a healthy and appropriate response. For it's when we feel the least qualified that we're most likely to rely on the Lord for His wisdom and look to Him to follow His plan. We don't need to worry about how worthy we are of being called, because based on what we can do ourselves none of us are worthy of being used by Him! We need not worry about being worthy (good enough), but being willing! We need to focus our attention not on how we can get it done, but how He will get it done through us.
It's easy to become confident in our own abilities and not be open to things outside of them. Our confidence should not be in our own abilities, but in His.
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (I Corinthians 10:12)
"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect." (Psalm 18:32)
He will never call us to something that can't be done, even when we think there's no way.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phillipians 1:6)
"Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it." (I Thessalonians 5:24; see also Romans 8:26-31; Hebrews 4:15-16; among others.)
I'm with Abraham as indicated in Romans 4:21, "...being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform." You just don't think you can do it? "...for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities...in necessities...for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (II Corinthians 12:9)
Next time someone asks you to do something that the Lord would have you do, go ahead and feel inadequate; just make sure it's a confident inadequacy.