The fear of inadequacy is a state of mind in which you think your best is not good enough. Usually, it originated in childhood when our parents, teachers, and others we considered important, failed to appreciate and affirm us or compared us negatively to someone else. You will see it from Moses, who felt inadequate to be the spokesman and liberator for the Israelites, to the late pop star Michael Jackson, who exerted himself to attain physical and professional perfection. No statistics can measure the number of abandoned dreams due to this paralysing emotion. To rid yourself of it, you must learn to embrace these two truths: 1) Apart from God you are inadequate. 2) Infused with God’s strength, you are adequate to any challenge He calls you to face. Paul writes: ‘Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God. [It is He] Who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers…of a new covenant’ (vv. 5-6 AMPC). Many of the heroes in the Bible struggled with the fear of inadequacy, so you’re in good company! Moses told God, ‘I can’t go and talk to Pharaoh, send someone else’ (see Exodus 3:11; 4:13). The real story of these Bible heroes is that they overcame their fear and said yes to God. They stepped out in faith and said in essence, ‘Lord, I am depending on you for my success.’ Our human ego likes to look good and claim the credit. But God puts us into a position of forced dependence so that the credit for our success goes to Him.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.