Do you ever feel inadequate, insufficient for the work God has called you to do? I feel that way a lot! When the words won’t come, my responsibilities overwhelm, and there’s not enough time to finish the task, I wonder why God chose me for the job at hand. Surely someone else could do it better.
I think Mary must have felt this way when Gabriel appeared and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” Luke 1:28 NIV. She was just a young girl, probably in her teens, from a backwoods village in Israel. Now suddenly there’s an angel standing in her room! No wonder she was “greatly troubled….” (v. 29). I think I would be too!
Then, to make matters worse, Gabriel tells Mary that she, a virgin, is going to have a child who “will be called the Son of the Most High.” Talk about feeling inadequate!
Yet, Mary, though timid and afraid,somehow found the faith to respond, “I am the Lord’s servant…May your word to me be fulfilled.” (v. 38). She didn’t understand, but she chose to believe. She felt inadequate for what she was called to do, but she trusted the God who called her.
This morning God says to you, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” He has a work for you to do and you may feel inadequate for the task. It will stretch you beyond your limits, challenge you to reach new heights, and scare you to death. On your own you are doomed to fail, but remember you are never alone. “The Lord is with you!”
Paul declared, in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” It is when we, like Mary, feel the most inadequate, that God is able to use us the most. Unsure of ourselves, we must trust in Him, leaning on His power. When we do, we lay hold infinite power and limitless resources. When we chose to say “Yes” to God’s call, the impossible becomes possible, the weak become strong.
Today, when God calls, do not shrink back. Instead, step forward in faith, declaring like Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant…May your word to me be fulfilled.”
God bless and remember, no matter what, “The Lord is with you!”