Inadequate

 Lately, I've been feeling inadequate. I recently started teaching a class in my church and it made me remember the sobering words of the apostle James in his letter:"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness". (James 3:1 ESV). James is not encouraging us not to teach ever; what he is doing is to try to express the seriousness of rightfully diving the Word of God if you ever decide or believe God has calling you to teach. We shouldn't want to become charlatanes and teach whatever we think an specific passage means, but we should seriously study the passage, its background, its words and everything we can get a hold of to discover what the author of that passage really meant, and not succumb to vague explanations. How could James mean not to become teachers at all when the apostle Paul tells the church in Rome to let whomever has the gift of teaching, teach? Am I claiming that I have the gift of teaching? Not neccesarily, but God know that I always try my hardest to understand a passage very well before I preach or teach, whichever the situation might be.

Someone  has said: "Teaching should never be carried out for selfish motives, financial gain, or to secure some authoritarian control over others, but should always be regarded seriously, knowing that the eternal destiny of men and women, rests on the accurate dissemination of Scripture".  Do you wonder now why I feel so inadequate? However, when I was talking to my wife about it and I expressed my feelings of inadequacy, she bluntly said: "Honey, that's Satan!" And it very well could be. Doesn't  the Bible say that he is the father of lies and the one who continues to throw darts at our lives trying to destroy what we have accomplished for God, or what we are about to accomplish for Him? He definitely doesn't like it when we are working for the one and only God, the Creator of heaven and Earth, and giving Him glory. My flesh could also be telling me about my inadequacy. Sin is in me, and don't we all experience negative self-talk from time to time? I know we do. We have three enemies in this life: Satan, the flesh and the world and all three can be contributing to my feeling of inadequacy.

While I should take this teaching opportunity very seriously and obey  the Word and its warnings, I shouldn't let these enemies defeat me and tear me down to the point God's work is not being done.  Didn't Moses feel inadequate too when he told God he wasn't up for the task but to assign  the job to someone else? Let's see what Genesis says about that: "But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” (Exodus 4:10‭-‬17 ESV)

This passage teaches us a few things about feeling inadequate:

1. When you think you cannot do the job (inadequate), God is going to tell you many things about Himself to assure you He doesn't make mistakes when He calls people to do a job.

The Lord bombarded Moses with many hypothetical questions ( of course it is a resounding yes to all questions) to prove to him He was still in control and therefore, He wanted to go on with  His plan. As a matter of fact the Lord tells Moses: "Don't worry Moses , I will be with your mouth and teach you all you need to say". Not only the Lord is encouraging Moses to do a job he feels incapable to do, but He provides the resources: the words he needs to say and later on a staff to perform "signs". Wow! What a God!

2. The feeling of being inadequate might make you feel fearful and therefore you will try to make God pick someone else.

God got angry at Moses for being stubborn and not believing he can do the job by being enabled by Him. Moses just asked: "Can someone else do it? God, in His mercy, inquired about his brother Aaron, which by the way, according to God, was a good speaker and used Aaron to help Moses speak His Words. Did you see that? Moses wasn't off the hook. God goes: "I'm going to tell you my Words so you can tell Aaron what I told you!" Aaron was going to be the spokesman but God was going to give the words to Moses and Moses to Aaron and Aaron to the people. Look at the phrase "He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him". Therefore, this will lead us to the following point.

3. Even when you feel inadequate, God still might use you.

Don't you be quick to think that God is going to let you off the hook that easy. He might provide some help to you but He is still going to expect you to do what He asked you to do. It might look different, but you're still doing it. In other words, we cannot outsmart God. Telling God how incapable you are or how you're lacking some gifts, is not going to convince Him that you're not the man for the job. He chose you for a reason regardless if there were someone better than you. Hence, Moses was slow to speak and Aaron was a good speaker but God wanted Moses. And God wants you! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Don't let the Devil, the flesh and the world tell you another story. You want God's story, the true one. Do you still feel inadequate? Do I still feel inadequate? Let God be the judge of that and no one else. He is a righteous Judge. Nothing can go wrong in His courtroom. 

Even when we are inadequate, God can equip us to do amazing things for Him. God didn't need Aaron. He just wanted a man with speaking disabilities to speak for him. Doesn't God  choose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and doesn't He choose what is weak in the world to shame the strong?(1 Corinthians 1:27). Well, He does! Whether you are foolish, weak or inadequate, He can use you because He has the power to transform your life and therefore advance His Kingdom. Never,never, never forget that! God bless you.