There is a crack in everything, that’s how light seeps in. Yes, I struggle with my temper, my focus, my eating habits, my motives, my prayer life, my state of mind, and that list doesn’t even scratch the surface. I know my weaknesses and faults better than anyone, I don’t need to listen to what other people say about me to feel disqualified.
Hardly a day goes by that I am not seized by the sensation that I have no business doing what I am doing. Am I unqualified? I have been asking this question my whole life and maybe you too have. I think we all secretly fight feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, and incompetence. We wonder whether we really measure up if we are not enough, whatever that means in our particular situations or maybe it’s in our character there is a flaw? A crack? A deficiency? But you just try your hardest to hide. It could be lust; it could be anger or maybe an addiction. Even if it is in the past, you might be living in fear that it might come back and destroy everything you are building. You were supposed to be a leader, a decision-maker, a risk-taker but your track record is far from being spotless and the thought of putting yourself out there is petrifying. What if you fail and what if your failure shipwreck others along the way? Many people live their entire life fighting these contradictions. They deal constantly with voices in their heads that they don’t qualify, that they never qualify, that they are epically disqualified. I have good news, if you observe great men and women of scripture you find one common denominator, they were all unqualified. God has a habit of picking people who have been passed over. Pass or fail. Have you ever thought about who or what truly has the ability to qualify you? Our self-assessment can be wildly inaccurate but many times we air on the other side pretending our weaknesses do not exist. We try to hide our flaws from God, others, and even ourselves. The problem with this is that until we admit our needs, God cannot do much to help us.
Greatness is birthed from humility, not denial. Weaknesses become strengths when they are embraced not ignored. Admitting our weaknesses is not doubt, fear, or lack of faith, actually it is one of the clearest signs that we have faith. It means that our confidence is placed in God and not ourselves. It means we are secure enough in who He is to admit who we are not. On the other hand, if we deny our need for help, instead of our weaknesses becoming our strengths, our strengths become our weakness. When we insist on building the illusion that we have it all under control we barricade. I wonder if God’s favourite kind of person to work with is the one who says, “God I have no idea what I am doing here but if you show me what you know about me, about life, about relationships, about my career, about my decisions, I will do it.” Pride is the barrier that keeps us from receiving strength in our weakness. Sometimes you may find yourself embarrassed to ask others or even God for help. God is not out of patience and probably has a significantly different assessment of you than you do. Have you ever read a story about how God called a man named Gideon to rescue Israel from their oppressors? When God found Gideon, he wasn’t doing heroic things, he was just hiding from the enemy. Despite that, God greeted Gideon with a phrase, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior.” The idea of winning through weakness flies in the face of our self-help, never take a ‘no for an answer’ culture. We have to learn to make our weaknesses work for us, we should not give up. If we truly believe that God is in control of our lives and we look for the advantage in every attack, we learn to possess true strength in what seems to be a weakness.
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