Have you ever felt unqualified? At work? As a parent? Speaking in front of others? Starting a new ministry? đ
I constantly feel unqualified. Iâm not really the BEST at anything I do. Whether itâs public speaking or writing or coding or playing sports or even just having everyday conversations with friends, Iâm not the best at any of them.
You see, Iâm a big-time do-it-yourselfer. Iâve taught myself the majority of things I do/know. I figure things out as I go and/or when needed. I havenât really honed in on just one thing, but rather, I am constantly learning new things. Iâm always growing. I think itâs crucial that I remain teachable forever. This makes me versatile and keeps life interesting, but it also has resulted in my focus being split across many different things and never given me the chance to master just one thing.
Chances are we have all secretly fought feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, and incompetence. At one time or another, weâve probably wondered whether we really measure up. Weâve feared we are not âenoughââwhatever that means in our particular situations.
Thereâs so much in this world that can make us feel unqualified.
Not getting the promotion.
Losing a job.
Getting rejected.
Comparing ourselves to others.
The funny thing is, Godâs calling on our life is often bigger than what we feel qualified for.
If youâre anything like me, youâre pretty hard on yourself. My shortcomings and failures are constantly rattling around in my head. I know my identity is SUPPOSED to come from Christ and Him alone, but man, itâs so much easier said than done sometimes, isnât it?!?
I recently read through an appropriately named book, âUnqualifiedâ by Steven Furtick, and it was incredible to me how much I could relate to so much of it! Here are some of my takeaways:
Culture tells us we must fix our failures and hide our shortcomings. And that the secret to success is to appear as flawless as possible. But Godâs qualifying system is much different! God created us to be great, but to become who He has called us to be, we must embrace who we are right now; shortcomings and all.
Think about all the great men and women in the Bible. They were all unqualified. God tends to pick people who others have turned away or passed over.
Even outside of Scripture, just in our recent history, you see people like Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, and Bill Gates. All of these guys dropped out of school, yet were extremely successful.
How can we possibly determine who is qualified or not with our worldly standards? I donât think we can! I think culture tries to and I think itâs an easy trap to fall into and believe, but ultimately, God is the only one who can determine that.
Itâs not about my competency or even my character that qualifies me. Sure, that may be what lands me a job or gets me accepted into college, but when it comes to Godâs calling on my life, I have to find a way to see myself how He sees me.
As long as I continue looking at my weaknesses as something that I just need to try harder to fix before I can be qualified, I will only make myself feel even more unqualified as I realize that I canât fully fix myself.
This cycle will continue until I shift my thinking.
Are you overestimating your shortcomings and underestimating your gifts?
God canât bless who you pretend to be.
âIt is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of His new covenant.â
–2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLTGod calls me. God equips me. God empowers me. And God opens the doors for me. Once I truly grasp that, my qualifications, or lack thereof, become pretty irrelevant.
Stepping into the calling God has for you, has nothing to do with who you are or what you can do, but rather who God is and what He will do through you (if youâll just let Him)!
Regardless of why we feel unqualified, the point here is that it doesnât matter! In my lack, God prevails. He shines. He gets the glory.
Being unqualified results in two things; it allows you to trust God, and it allows your character to either keep you in that room or get you dismissed from the room.
God chooses those in whom He can develop a strong root system. Itâs actually to His advantage to choose those who donât feel qualified for the job because they are less likely to think they can rely on themselves to make anything happen.
My can-do attitude and figure-it-out personality sometimes get in the way of what God calls me to. I often struggle to let God fully use me.
Itâs not that I donât trust Him, itâs that I donât trust myself. I feel unqualified. I feel like I have to figure it all out before I can do it. While preparation, practice, and hard work are always important and necessary, I have a tendency to do it all in my own strength rather than praying and letting God use me how He wants to.
We must remind ourselves (constantly, in my case) that God wants to use us as we are. We donât have to and shouldnât be trying to do it in our strength.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the worldâs eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
–1 Corinthians 1:26-27
Also, for those who missed it, my last post closely relates to this one. Even if you feel unqualified or question your ability to make an impact, remember that âYour Story Can Impact Someoneâ. We are all different and how you live, what you do, and how you speak may be the exact things that someone out there needs. Letting God use you as you are, may be the only way someone out there will finally get the breakthrough and revelation that they need!
God is calling every one of us to something. God wants to use you for something at some capacity. Take the step. Have the faith. Rely on Him.
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