““And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?”
Exodus 4:10-11 [KJV]
The plainer the paper, the bolder the pattern
I once told a Christian lady, “I’m excited to see how the Lord wants me to serve Him.”
Her eyebrows rose, her lip curled upward, and she gave me a sideways look. “Focus on a career,” she said, “Not everyone is specially called to serve the Lord.”
My heart sank. She’s right, I thought. Why would God waste His time on me, when there are others who are more capable and more Christ-like? I’m just a failure.
Maybe you expressed the same sentiment in more ‘spiritual’ terms and said: I believe my role in serving God is purely prayer support, or, I don’t think I have any of the Romans 12 spiritual gifts.
Underneath these expressions can lie a persistently negative attitude towards your capabilities. In psychology, it’s called low self-esteem, and is associated with poor mental health and reduced productivity. But for Christians, it also affects our spiritual wellbeing. If we have pre-determined that God’s will for us is restricted to just things we are capable of achieving, we limit God’s working in our lives. If we expect to fail, we will resist dealing with besetting sins. We may also question God’s sovereignty and goodness. Isn’t my uselessness proof that God makes mistakes?
How do we manage such a spiritually dangerous mindset? Dr Google says I should regularly recite morale-boosting affirmations such as, “I have or can easily get everything I need to succeed. I show up every day and do my best. There is nothing I cannot overcome.”
But these affirmations are lies. Repeating such lies sets us up for inevitable discouragement and will reinforce negative thoughts about our capability to serve God. The truth is that we will not always succeed easily and are warned “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). We don’t always give our best efforts or complete our to-do lists. And roadblocks do appear that force changes to plans.
So, what is the answer? What does the Bible say about who I am? The Bible says I am a sinner (Romans 3:23), weak (2 Corinthians 12:9) and have a corruptible physical body (2 Corinthians 4:16). But the Bible also says I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14a), in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and that as a Christian, the Holy Spirit–God Himself–indwells me (1 Corinthians 3:16). God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me (John 3:16) and promises each of His disciples, “…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20b).
You see, God never intended for us to be self-sufficient superheroes. The Bible warns us of those, “who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25a). While our self-worship culture constantly tells us, “Believe in yourself”; Jesus says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our salvation is “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9), and Paul asked, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). God’s character is consistent. He saved us when we couldn’t save ourselves; and similarly enables us to serve Him because we can’t enable ourselves.
There will always be others who have more impressive talents, a more spiritual persona, or seem more obvious fits for ministry. Other people might even say you are inadequate. Perhaps you feel like Moses did when the Lord told him to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out of Egypt. “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?” (Exodus 4:10-11). Paul also reminds us, “And [the Lord] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: 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” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Some people seem to think we need to submit a job application listing our credentials before we can serve the Lord. Wrong. God’s selection criteria for serving Him is this: “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you” (1 Samuel 12:24). May this be our focus this week as we live for Him.
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