As Christian young ladies, I’ve noticed many of us have a deep desire to be a servant that flourishes in the kingdom of God. However, I have noticed a vast trend among the younger generation that plagues them from moving forward in this desire. As I have spoken with young ladies about what they feel called to do in the ministry, I’ve received answers such as “I have a desire to work for God, but I don’t feel like I am really good at anything or even talented.” This leaves my heart shattered in pieces. Why? Because everyone has a God-given place to work for the kingdom of God. Despite your flaws, God still wants to use YOU.
Many ladies in today’s Christian society have lowered their God-given identity by comparing themselves to others. They have a desire to become a speaker, but believe they stutter or speak too fast and tend to ramble. They have a passion to become a church leader, but believe they aren’t quite capable enough. They want to be a singer or pianist, but feel as though they aren’t musically inclined. I’m sure you have all experienced discouraging feelings such as these as I have too. When I was younger, I developed a habit of comparing myself to others. If I wasn’t quite as talented or skillful as them, I would beat myself up and think “Well, since I’m not quite as good as them.. what’s the point?
The point is… when you compare, you destroy. When you destroy, you ultimately lose joy. It’s a constant cycle of “who’s better than who” and you never feel entirely competent or adequate enough. Even worse, you lose sight of who you are really serving: God or others? When I finally surrendered my pride and delved into the Bible, I noticed that the most valiant men of God were the ones that you would have least expected Him to use. I came to the realization that God doesn’t look at human competence to determine our worth. What never ceases to amaze me, is how God always planned for these everyday average men to be His heroic leaders for Israel. And the rest of the people believed those men were probably a nobody. But that’s exactly what God does: He turns what some people would call a nobody into a somebody! For His glory, not personal gain.
Allow me to introduce you to a couple of legendary leaders in the Bible that had disabilities that didn’t stop them from working for His kingdom. The story of Moses.The birth of Moses was by divine appointment. Through the wickedness of man, this child sent by God was to lose his life. Pharaoh gave a decree that every Jewish child was to be killed. Day after day, Egyptians soldiers would raid the homes of the Israelite families taking the children from their mothers and killing them. The Lord spoke to Moses’ mother, Jochebed, and gave her the following directions. Jochebed followed the voice of God and sent her daughter Miriam down to the river with Moses in a basket. If we could truly see what transpired through our spiritual eyes – we would see a mother letting go of her child and sending him into the hands of God. Just as God said he would do, He would receive Moses with open arms and use him mightily. Although It was not as one would’ve expected.
Moses was the man of God that returned to Egypt to lead the children of Israel back to the promise land. In Exodus, it states that Moses was “slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” In other words, Moses struggled with a speech impediment and it was likely that his stuttering wasn’t very eloquent. Not only was eloquence a significant trait among the Egyptians, but that was a quality that could determine the outcome of political debates. However, Moses became fearful and told God “They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice.” That’s when God replied concerning Moses’ self-evaluation by saying, “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?” Even though Moses had Aaron, his brother, to translate for him, he still trusted God and changed the course of Biblical history. Imagine how others laughed at him publicly and caused much humiliation. Nevertheless, Moses didn’t allow comparison to get in the way and destroy his promise from God. This leads me to ask… how many times do we in our own human nature rebuke our own abilities that God has created? Through God, we are capable of exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.
Second, we find a heroic leader by the name of David. This shepherd boy was quite small in size; he was far from what you would imagine a mighty warrior to look like. When he was tending his father’s sheep, he killed the lion and the bear as a teenage boy. All along, God was training him to defeat Goliath. Little did David know, that God was proving his worth despite his age and size. David told Saul when they were preparing for battle, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul immediately rejected David’s brave request to fight. Saul told him “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art a youth.” This noteworthy passage states that when David proved himself worthy to fight, Saul put his armor on this little shepherd boy and he refused it. David said “I cannot go with these: for I have not proved them.” But what David had proved was his confidence and worth in God! Imagine going fight a giant that was 9 feet tall with armor and weaponry that weighed well over 150 pounds! The point is… Israel couldn’t see God because of how big Goliath was, but David couldn’t see Goliath because of how big God was! We often do the same with our own inability to see our great potential in God and instead we opt to focus on nothing but the negative.
Whatever abilities you feel you lack right now, don’t allow these temporary feelings of inadequacy to determine your worth. Conquer those negative emotions by courageously acting on what the word of God says and answer your call! As humans, we develop value complexes too easily. Just like Moses struggled with his speech impediment and David struggled to see his own value, God proved them to be Biblical heroes despite their inadequacies. These two profound stories have helped prove to me that God can use anybody in any situation and with any setback. God can and will use you in your life only if you allow Him to.
It’s time to match our value to the price Christ paid on the cross.
What capacity has God used you in your ministry when you decided that you were enough for Him? Let us hear your story and tell us what God has miraculously unfolded in your life!
Know This, You are Enough!