I don’t want to be so presumptuous as to speak for everyone in ministry, so allow me to speak from my experience;
I often feel overwhelmed and under qualified at that task that God has set before me. I sometimes wonder if I will be able to communicate what I feel so strongly about in a fashion that would cause those who hear me to feel the same passion I feel. I wonder if I can motivate the Church to move in the direction I believe God wants it to move. I feel especially burdened with these thoughts when I am ministering in an outreach setting where the people have not yet heard the Apostolic Message. (with this group, I may have only one chance) No doubt you have felt the same way.
Early in my ministry, I figured this feeling would dissipate over time as my experience grew. But it hasn’t. I still feel overwhelmed and under qualified, even more so than before. Yet, now, I have come to understand this is how God wants me to feel. When I lose this feeling, I am on my way down.
What I am describing is not so much a lack of confidence in one’s self. I am not describing someone who is fearful or timid of people and pulpit ministry, but rather someone who is humble. God requires humility in every leader. Without humility you will never reach your people. The moment you feel like you have everything in control is the moment you lose control. The message that you just know is going to fill the altars is going to flop. Pride has no place in ministry. Pride will backfire every time. Yet, when you feel like you are in way over your head or when you feel like you don’t have the words to say, God will always make up the difference.
It is clearly evident that the Apostle Paul felt this way. Numerous times in the Epistles, we find Paul describing how unworthy and under qualified he felt about preaching the plan of Christ to his world. Especially to those who had not yet heard this Message. In his letter to Ephesus, Paul writes;
Eph 3:8-9 KJV
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
I really like how this is worded in the Message Bible;
Eph 3:8-9
8 When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. 9 My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along.
Paul’s task was the same task we have before us today. We are continuing the Apostle’s Doctrine. Paul felt that he was preaching about things that were way over his head. He didn’t know how he, of all people, would be able to communicate the Message of Christ to the people who needed it the most. Yet, in the emptiness of what Paul was feeling, God looked down on Paul and said, “I see humility in this man, I can do great things through him.” The Message Bible states that “God equipped Paul”, the KJV states that, “Grace was given” to Paul and he was able to win more people to Christ than perhaps any other man.
James 4:6
…..God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
God is not looking for ability, He is looking for humility. If you feel like you are in way over your head, don’t change a thing! Stay in the deep. You are in the place where God will use you the most. God will equip you! God will make up the difference! God will give you the Grace you need to accomplish His Will!
