Moments of Inadequacy

“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” — Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)

Have you ever felt inadequate? Have you felt like you did not belong or fit in? Have you ever felt like you just were not enough? Are you feeling inadequate right now? How do you overcome those feelings?

It happens to every one of us, those moments when we feel as though the world is on our shoulders. We don’t know if we can bear it anymore. We consider giving up, throwing in the towel. We don’t feel equipped to carry out the task and wonder if it is worth all the trouble. We have made too many mistakes. These are the moments when we cry out “Father, help!” But sometimes the help does not come the way we expect, nor does it come right when we feel we need it. We begin to wonder “where is the Lord when we need Him the most?” He was there for Jesus, exactly when He needed Him and He promises to be there for you too. But you may say, “It’s not the same because Jesus is the Son of God, and as a matter of fact, Jesus is God. His sufficiency was not just in God but He was God. He was perfect and sinless.” Can God be there for us in the same way He was for Jesus?

There are many examples in the Scriptures of those who were not omnipotent, like Jesus, who faced physical inadequacies and the Father saw them through. Moses felt inadequate as he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. When he stood before the Red Sea, as the children of Israel cried and complained because Pharaoh was on their tail, God came through for him and parted the waters (Exodus 14:15-31). Gideon felt inadequate when God called him to provide leadership for the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Midianites. God used Gideon to bring the Israelites to victory (Judges 6-8). David, surrounded by his enemies, felt inadequate but the Lord delivered him out of his trouble (Psalm 3). The Apostle Paul, with a thorn in his flesh, felt inadequate but God gave him the grace to continue his ministry. God is able to help you overcome any inadequacies to carry out His plan; all you must do is trust Him to help you persevere through the feelings of inadequacy.

To feel inadequate means that you believe you are unable to carry out the task before you. It could be because of a lack of resources, abilities, or personal failures. You feel as though your liabilities far exceed your assets. You have made every effort but to no avail. How do you overcome these inadequacies?

• Call on the Lord through prayer
• Strengthen your faith by listening to the Word of God
• Think correctly
• Speak life, not death – confess the Word of God
• Guard your heart against negativity
• Move in faith, trusting that the Lord will carry you through in spite of your inadequacies
• Remember the greater the inadequacy, the greater the grace of God in your life

When you feel inadequate the devil will try to make you focus on your liabilities rather than your assets, your weaknesses rather than your strengths, your failures rather than your victories, your mistakes rather than your successes. You must resist the temptation to turn negative and instead focus on who God is and what He has already done through you. These are moments when God wants to show Himself mighty through you. He wants to demonstrate that He can use you despite your inadequacies. The goal, therefore, is not to focus on eliminating them but rather to focus on the power of God in you and persevering through your inadequacies. Success is not a matter of perfection but a matter of perseverance. Perfection is a by-product of perseverance and a never-give-up-attitude. Remember, like the children of Israel, God has not chosen you because of your abilities or righteousness, but because He loves you. He is faithful to see you through – in spite of you.

“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” — Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (NKJV)

My prayer for you is that God will give you the grace to persevere through your inadequacies so He may be glorified through you.