Those Feelings Of Inadequacy

Feelings of inadequacy—the sense of falling short, being insufficient, or simply not being up to the task—are common experiences in life. This feeling, while sometimes a stumbling block, also presents an opportunity to recognize where our true strength lies: in a deep, ongoing, and intimate relationship with a personal God.

Many people experience inadequacy in specific areas, leading them to seek change in their circumstances. However, the key to conquering these feelings is understanding that God does not require human perfection; rather, our adequacy is from God.

Why We Feel Inadequate

Feelings of inadequacy can surface in nearly every aspect of life. Common areas include:

1. Professional Life: Feeling ill-equipped due to a lack of specific skills, such as computer proficiency, or insufficient capability to handle a new leadership position or promotion.
2. Family and Relationships: Struggling to raise godly children in a godless age where spiritual growth faces constant resistance. In marriage, feeling unable to meet a spouse’s expectations or provide for a family adequately, often fueled by comparison with neighbors or friends.
3. Personal Viewpoint: Dealing with a poor self-image or lacking inner peace and joy.
4. Comparison and Failure: Comparing oneself to others who seem more capable (“somebody can always do it better”) or dwelling on past failures. Dwelling on failures causes one’s sense of adequacy to lessen.
5. Spiritual Attack: Sometimes, the feeling of inadequacy is actually an attack of the devil meant to derail a believer.

Biblical Truth: God Uses the Inadequate

It is important to recognize that feelings of inadequacy are not unique to modern life; God’s greatest servants experienced the same struggles.

The scriptures demonstrate that God intentionally uses people who feel insufficient:

• Moses: When God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, Moses offered excuses, stating, “I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and slow of tongue,” because he felt genuinely inadequate for the task. Yet, God promised, “I’ll be with you”.
• Gideon: When called a “valiant warrior,” Gideon responded by highlighting his weak position, saying, “My family is least in Manasseh, and I’m the youngest in my father’s house”. Like Moses, Gideon felt very inadequate.
• Jeremiah: Despite God confirming that He consecrated Jeremiah before birth and appointed him a prophet, Jeremiah’s immediate response was, “Alas, Lord, GOD! Behold, I don’t know how to speak“.
• Apostle Paul: The Apostle Paul, an awesome leader, faced opposition from the Corinthian church demanding credentials. Paul responded, saying his critics (the believers) were his letter of commendation, written by the Spirit of the living God. He affirmed: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves… but our adequacy is from God“. Paul asked, “Who’s adequate for these things?” when discussing preaching the Gospel.

These examples confirm that God does not require us to “measure up” before choosing us. Instead, He takes our inadequate areas of life and uses them to do something worthwhile.

The Dangers of Believing Inadequacy

When believers listen to feelings of inadequacy instead of God’s truth, they suffer needless consequences:

1. Missed Opportunities: One of the major problems of feeling inadequate is the failure to take advantage of God-given opportunities. God constantly offers opportunities, and turning them down due to fear or inadequacy means missing designed blessings. If an individual declines a small opportunity, they may miss out on what God has planned next, as God knows what is coming.
2. Walking Away from Power: When you step out of God’s will because you feel inadequate to be obedient, you walk away from God’s power, His help, His strength, and all the ways He intends to bless you.
3. Needlessly Suffering: Many people live on a lower spiritual level than God intends because they tell Him, “I can’t do that”. Telling God you can’t is a waste of time because you cannot convince God of anything that is not true.
4. Unfulfilled Life: Rejecting God’s call, either for salvation or service, due to feelings of being unworthy or inadequate, results in a life that is never truly fulfilling, regardless of notoriety or wealth. Those who reject God’s call have been observed to lack happiness, peace, or success.

Finding True Adequacy and Fulfillment

To overcome inadequacy, the focus must shift from personal capability to God’s all-sufficiency.

1. Focus on God’s Presence and Word

The key question is not “How do I feel?” but “What does God say?“. When God requires something, the only required solution is listening to Him say, “I’ll be with you“.

God equips those He calls, but trust is essential. The believer needs omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence on their side. It is foolish to be disobedient to God when He promises His full presence.

2. Practice Simple Obedience (The Next Step)

If you are unsure of God’s complete plan for your life, the way to find out is simple: Do the next thing He tells you to do. Following this pattern consistently will lead to God’s blessings in ways that human reasoning could never figure out.

3. Reject Pride and Embrace Humility

The belief that one can handle things apart from God is characterized as an act of pride and arrogance. It is the “cocky people who miss it”. Individuals who boast, “I’m just the man you need. I can handle it,” display an attitude that signals God will not help them. We must accept ourselves as God has made us, utilizing the abilities we possess, and avoid comparing ourselves to others.

4. Understand Salvation and Worthiness

Feelings of inadequacy often prevent people from accepting salvation, believing they are too sinful or unworthy (e.g., “You don’t know how much sin I’ve committed”). However, none of us are worthy of salvation or anything God gives us. Salvation is based entirely on the saving grace of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

If you wait until you feel adequate to live the Christian life, it will never happen, because none of us can live it in our own strength. The Christian life is only possible through reliance on God and walking in the Spirit.

5. Allow the Holy Spirit to Fill the Emptiness

Until you trust Christ as Savior, you will always feel that something is missing. This is because that emptiness can only be filled by the Spirit of God. When you confess and repent of your sins, trust your life to Christ, and let Him work, He provides the feeling of completeness and wholeness. God is ready to take the ill-equipped and undeserving and turn them into something He will bless again and again.