“When it comes to serving the Lord, there is a sense in which nobody is adequate…When God calls us, however, He isn’t making a mistake, and for us to hesitate or refuse to obey is to act on the basis of unbelief and not faith. It’s one thing for us to know our own weaknesses, but it’s quite something else for us to say that our weaknesses prevent God from getting anything done.” ~ Wiersbe
“I can’t” or “I’m not qualified,” are common responses to God’s call for some. But Paul adamantly reprimands us: our adequacy is not of ourselves, it is of God. “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God Who has made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 2:5-6.
If I get to the point that I reject God’s calling on my life because I think, “I’m not qualified,” then I have sinned. My sin is unbelief and pride. Because suddenly, the outcome of the calling depends entirely on me! This is not God’s calling for me or for anyone. His calling requires HIM. It is His Spirit that gives life to whatever ministry He calls me to. It is not my doing, not my qualifications, and not my experience. However, it is my faith in Him, His power through me, and my experiences with Him that enable me to be the learning vehicle that He wants to grow and employ. At this point of full faith in His Spirit, I become the one He equips, who sees Him in action in my own life as well as see Him meet the needs of those He leads me to minister.
I am constantly finding people in the Bible that were ill qualified for the calling of God. Jeremiah was only 20 years old when God called him to be a prophet to the nations. He faced physical danger and national decay. He faced a succession of leaders that were deceptive, evil and corrupt. He faced a people that were hardhearted. He was assigned the task of speaking to them the truth of God, something they did not want to hear. At 20 years old, Jeremiah had not had the time to be equipped for this ministry. He had not even had the experience to be equipped, yet God called him, anyway. God calls us all to tasks we cannot do, so that He is the One who receives all the glory. And the interesting thing in it all, He even does this just for you and me. We serve and love an intimate and loving God, who will call us to difficult things in life so that He can grow our faith in Him. He not only cares for those we minister to, but He cares for each of us as well. That’s a loving Shepherd!
As leaders, ourselves, we need to imitate our God in the same way: loving those we lead enough to equip them so they are growing not just getting a task done. Good shepherds care for their flock by tending them, feeding them on knowledge and understanding; they take great joy in seeing their flock go from being afraid to having full trust in their God. Good shepherds release them into ministry so they, too, can experience the full equipping of their God in their life. The ministry of God does not belong to the human shepherd, it belongs to God and it is His will to see all His flock serving in His power and through His Spirit. This is a functioning Body of Christ! This is the Priesthood of Believers operating fully at God’s Hand and Will.
Continuing our story about Jeremiah; he was called to a difficult task as we find in chapter one of his book. He is afraid to do what God has called him to do. His first response to the call is, “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” (Jeremiah 1:6) In other words, “Hey God, I didn’t go to seminary for this…I’m not so sure you have the right guy here.” His second response is, “…I am a youth.” (Jeremiah 1:7) In other words, “And by the way, God, I don’t have any experience in this area of prophesying; I mean, after all I’m only 20 years old. You might need to look for someone with better credentials, you know, someone who’s done this before.” I can almost hear the boom from heaven when God responded to Jeremiah, “Do not say, I am a youth, because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them. For I am with you to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:7-8).
Fear can be a crippling emotion when it comes to following God. I see it in my life all the time. I can be just like a doubting Thomas, wanting to see before I believe. There are times, my God is so gracious to give me glimpses of His will just so I will believe. And then, I can be such a stubborn follower, still asking for more glimpses. You would think He would tire of me. But we serve a loving God, who is patient with us and walks with us in these uncertain steps of faith. However, walking in this marginal faith eventually lessons our ability to see Great Faith grow in our soul. With each new step of faith we take, we get to know our God in a whole new way. Many say, “I want more of You, God.” And God says, “And I want more of you, my child.” And the pathway of giving God more of us, is to have more faith in Him.
We come full circle to our question, “Who is adequate for God’s Ministry?” I believe the answer is clear: the one who is willing to fully surrender in faith to Our God; the one who believes in his or her heart, “I can do all things through Him who gives me power.” Philippians 4:13.
