What If You Don't Have What It Takes?

What if I really don't have what it takes?

Moses said it out loud at a burning bush, and God did not argue with the assessment. He answered with his own presence instead. Gideon said it too, hiding in a winepress, and heard the same kind of answer.

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 3:11–12

Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.” Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:10–13

Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” Yahweh looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?” He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Judges 6:12–16

What if my weakness disqualifies me?

Paul had something he wanted gone, and the answer he got was not a fix. The thing he could not overcome became the place where God's power was most at home. Weakness was not the obstacle to the calling; it was the doorway.

He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

1 Samuel 17:45–47

For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God.

1 Corinthians 1:26–29

Do I have to pretend I'm fine to be used by God?

Jeremiah tried to decline on the grounds that he was too young, and God did not wait for him to grow up first. He touched his mouth and sent him. Being honest about what you lack is not a lack of faith.

Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says Yahweh. Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Jeremiah 1:4–9

Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.” Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:10–13

My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalms 73:26

Where does my confidence come from if not from myself?

Paul wrote about learning to be content in every circumstance, and he located the source outside himself. David faced a giant with a sling and a sentence about whose battle it was. The confidence is real, but it is borrowed.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

1 Samuel 17:45–47

He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10

Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9