When you feel inadequate (2)

First, acknowledge your inadequacy to God. Joni Eareckson Tada said, “Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God’s strength in you.” God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Anything that makes you lean on God is a plus and not a minus. Second, stop putting yourself down. You say, “But I lack the qualifications to do the job.” God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. How? By filling them with His Spirit. “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit” (Joel 2:28-29 NKJV). God isn’t limited by age, gender, race, or academic status. The only thing that limits Him are the limits you place on yourself, or the limits you permit others to place on you. Third, don’t buy it. Advertisers spend billions of dollars to convince you that without their product you are inadequate or incomplete. Don’t believe them! Begin to say, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14 NKJV). Fourth, view the excellence or superior performance of someone else as a source of motivation rather than intimidation. Meanwhile, don’t lose sight of your unique giftedness. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:6 NKJV). Your gift may be undiscovered, undeveloped, or unused, but it resides within you. Today unlock it and begin to use it.