When You Feel Inadequate – Week Four

I am grateful that I serve a God who redeems. In the times I am weak, when I don’t have what it takes, when I face challenges, when I am inadequate – God takes those exact moments and turns them into an opportunity. The days I would rather not face and the seasons that I want to exchange are most often the places that God uses to shape my life.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he spent time exploring how God uses the weaknesses of His people to display His strength. He shares how God comforts us in our times of suffering. Then he shares this thought-provoking idea – the sufferings Paul was walking through were also designed to bring comfort to others (2 Corinthians 1:5-7). As Paul received comfort, he then could become a vessel of God’s comfort to the people in his life. What God was doing in Paul was not just about Paul. In the same way, what God is doing in you is never just about you. Not only can God redeem our pain on a personal level, but He can also powerfully use that pain to minister to others.

I have heard it said that we impress people with our strengths but we connect to them through our weaknesses. Time and again God has used the challenges of my friends and family to encourage me to keep going. Knowing that they have walked through or are walking through similar situations has helped me to put one foot in front of the other. Learning about their internal struggles as well as their triumphs has helped me to know that I am not alone. And this is not only true of people I know well, but it is also true of authors, speakers, and leaders. As I hear of how others walk through difficult times I am inspired and comforted. Their vulnerability helps me to connect to them and to God.

In the same way that God has used the pain of others to encourage me, I have seen God use my struggles to speak into the lives of others. I shared a few weeks ago how I was preparing to speak at a women’s conference in Cuba and was faced with a strong feeling of inadequacy. I was tired physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But in those moments God used the very words I was preparing to share to challenge and strengthen me.

The evening I taught that lesson I had struggled to prepare, I was able to share out of my weaknesses. As I talked about the power of the Holy Spirit, I reminded the ladies that God does not need us to have it all together. He does not need us to be strong. Why? Because He is strong. That night I saw God work in a powerful way. This was certainly not because I was strong or had it all together. It was because my God works through imperfect people and He uses my weakness to bring comfort and encouragement to others.

This year has been a year of both internal and physical struggles for me. If I am honest, I am looking forward to the calendar changing to 2020. However, I am extremely grateful for this year. God has taken me deeper, He has cleansed me, He has challenged me, and despite my weakness, He has used me to minister to others.

Today as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I wonder – what are you grateful for?

Maybe some of the challenges you have faced are also the greatest blessing you have received.

Maybe the things you would never choose are the very things that God is using to expand your ministry.

Maybe your inadequacies and weaknesses are a beautiful gift to break down barriers and allow you to share God’s love in a more powerful way.

What are you most grateful for today?