Have you ever felt inadequate?

Have you ever felt so hopeless that you do not think you can ever turn your situation around?

You ever looked at the task before you and thought “This is too great”?

Please know that you are not alone. We have all been there. We all have battled the thoughts that accompany those feelings of inadequacies. We have all felt inferior at one point. What may seem simple for someone may be a gigantic task for you.

Rest assured they are just feelings. They have nothing to do with the truth of the matter. God says, “Fear not, for I am with you“.  Your feelings is not your reality. You are far greater than you can imagine. The Greater One is in you. His Spirit is the seed of greatness that is within you. You are not facing this alone. God is always with you to see you through. You will not fail. ‘For I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread’ (Psalm 37:25). You may rely on Him to strengthen you. His ‘righteous right hand’ is with you to to empower you. His hand will grant you victory.

Isaiah 41:10

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Sometimes when I feel inadequate I am reminded of a young man who was a village coward. His people were constantly under attack from their enemies. The enemy kept them in constant poverty and hunger. He felt incapable of doing anything about it. Well…that was until God appeared to him and told him to deliver his people from the oppression of their enemy. That person was Gideon.

The Bible tells says the spirit of God came on him and changed him. From that day he was no longer afraid. He became as bold as a lion. He made his plans to go to battle with a big army but God gave him a different strategy. It was unlike any that anyone had every attempted before.

You may feel that you lack the necessary know-how to accomplish your task. Have you ever considered that you may be exactly where God wants you?

Perhaps God wants to use you to do something new. Something extraordinary. God does that! When we think we hear, seen or done it all God always surprises us.

Isaiah 55:9-11

⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Gideon did did not understand the strength that was within him. When the Lord said ‘you mighty man of valor‘ it puzzled Gideon. The Lord could not have been addressing him. I believe he was wondering if God made a mistake. It was only when He eventually accepted that God was with Him that faith grew in him. The spirit of God came on him and filled him with faith. In the moment he understood that victory was guaranteed. He could see the end of the battle. He saw his nation victorious against the many nations that oppressed them.

It is important that you understand that this growth was a process. Change did not occur overnight. Gideon tried everything to get out of it. Isn’t that like us? I am guilty of doing that. I cannot tell you how many times I have made excuses to get out of something. So many times we try to avoid what is challenging. We call on prayer warriors. We make excuses. We deliberately procrastinate. We run away. Once time runs out, we feel justified. “See I did not have enough time. It just was not possible to do it!” Gideon did not feel brave at first. When he saw the size of the army that was against him and his men he thought, “well you know what I had better get as large an army as possible. I may as well play the numbers game. Perhaps with a very large army of fighting men I will prevail”.

If you know the story you would know that God drastically reduced that number. God said “if you go with that number the people will think they have won by their strength”. In other words God was saying to Gideon.

“If you win with that large number and all your strategies, you and your people will forget that I delivered you. You will not honor or glorify me. They will not see that you serve a Great and Mighty God. Your victory will not cause their hearts to be turned towards me. You will brag on your yourself. Your ability. Your wisdom. They will lift you on their shoulders. They will sing your praise. They will go back to the worship of their dumb idols. You will immediately forget that I gave you victory.”

I believe what God said to Gideon is still applicable to you and I. Right now. In this moment, He is saying:

“Trust me in the process. Let me carry you through. Stop looking for your dad, mom, wife, husband, brothers and sister, friends, the dog, the cat, Aunt Sally, Uncle Big. Just Stop. Stop looking for them to come to your rescue. Let me do what I do best. Let me turn around your impossible situation.”

“Be still and know that I am God!”

God is speaking to you right now. God wants you to know that you have been forsaken so that He will get glory out of your situation. It is time to turn to God. Remember your source. Your strength.

Remove Fear

Gideon gathered a vast army but God quickly reduced the numbers.

“Get rid of all who are afraid”

Fear is infectious. To Gideon’s shock and amazement the 22,000 men had to be sent home; two-third of his vast army. His discovery reveals what happens to us when we accommodate fear. Once fear overwhelms us it infects others. Victory can only be won when we recognize that fear is a dead weight. Then gut it out. Never make excuses for it. Fear must be removed.

When you make up your mind to trust God, begin the weeding process. Anyone that is not trusting the Word of God as you do will cause panic and discouragement when difficulty comes. You must get rid of them from early. Run only with the brave.

There will be odds. Some will seem insurmountable. Although God says “go”, there will be dark days. There will be days when you think you will not make it through. If you desire to make it to the finished line. To see victory. You must bury this word in your heart. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“

God is With You

God is always with you. When Gideon did not believe in himself God called him to go free his people. God also called him a mighty man of valor. Those words permeated his consciousness. His entire outlook changed. His faith was now built on the Word of God. What word are you standing on?

Before Gideon to advance into war God did further pruning. He removed those who wavered. Those that kept their heads down instead of looking ahead. Gideon was told to take the men to the brook to drink water. Those that knelt down to drink water were sent home. Why? They were the ones that would not keep their eyes on the victory. Then the odds came they would waver. Unbelief would rise up in them. Be careful of these companions. They also come in very large numbers. Another 10,000 men was sent home to their family. Things really looked grim now. He had only 300 hundred men. They stood against a vast army.

Yet Gideon prevailed without lifting a finger to fight. All he did was worship. His worship threw the camp of the enemy into confusion.

Gideon, ‘the mighty man of valor’, prevailed against great odds. What is valor, you may ask? Valor is great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle. In the 1980s I often read a comic strip in the local newspaper called Prince Valor. He was a medieval knight who frequently engaged in battles. He and his men were always engaged in adventures and battles that left you wondering how will he succeed. Somehow he always emerged victorious. He always had a battle strategies within strategies. The strategies placed him one step ahead of the enemy.

Trust God

God does not keep you one step ahead of the odds. He has multiple strategies and an end goal that is far greater than you can imagine. When the odds are overwhelming consult your Chief Strategist. One word from the Holy Spirit changes everything! Don’t believe me? Ask Dr. Ben Carson. You may remember that during the Republican primaries in 2016 he was one of the candidates selected to run for the Office of the President of the United States. What you may not know about him is the humble beginnings from which he came. In his autobiography Gifted hands, he clearly stated that it was the intervention of God that turned his life around. He and his brother were at the bottom of their class. His mother a semi-literate single mother despaired for her boys. She was a high school drop-out. It forced her to work very long hours to provide shelter, clothing and food for her family. She knew the success of her boys was contingent on a good education. She knew she was ill-equipped to provide them with the necessary help for them to learn. So she did the most logical thing. She turned to the Lord Jesus for guidance. After she prayed, He gave her a simple solution. Have them read two books each week. A report was to be done about each book. The boys were only allowed one hour of television each week. Without any question, she implemented it. Although she was not home the boys obeyed. They both got library cards and began reading books. Everything begun to slowly change for them. Eventually they excelled above everyone at their grade level. That discipline and drive led to outstanding successes in their profession. Dr. Carson became one of the foremost pediatric surgeons in the country. That led to his being encouraged to run for the highest office in the land. I am sure that his mother never imagined the heights to which God would take her son. She was just seeking a solution to her current problem. God’s plan was far bigger.

This is often the case with us. God always has a far bigger plan for us than we can ever imagine. The only reason we despair and give into fear is because we do not understand that God’s plan for us is far greater than we can imagine. The next time you despair. Remember the promise of Isaiah 41 verse 10. God is with you!

You are only facing a giant for God’s strength to be revealed in you. Trust Him. Lean on Him. Ask for wisdom. Ask for knowledge. Ask for understanding. Ask for direction. Ask for help. Ask and it shall be given to you. The Lord desires to establish you. He will increase your strength. He will give you victory!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have opened my eyes to realize that I am more than the circumstances around me.

I am more than my situation.

I may not see how everything will work out but I know you have more for me. You know the end from the beginning. I will trust your word. I will put my hope and faith in you. With all my heart I will trust you.

Lord I commit to abandoning my fears. I am a giant waiting to rise up. I will tackle all challenges before me. No longer will I allow excuses to cripple me. I break my agreement with the voices inside and outside that tell me that I am not adequate.

I thank you that your right hand, the Holy Spirit, gives me that wisdom, the knowledge and the understanding to succeed. I will follow your leading Holy Spirit. All you instructed me to do shall be done. I know that with You I am can achieve great things.

My life will be a witness of your goodness to everyone I meet. They will see that you can turn the life of anyone around. You can take us from obscurity to national and international recognition.

By simply being obedient to You victory is guaranteed.

Lord I understand that growing in faith is a process. It takes deliberate series of steps of walking with you. Always obediently following your instructions and not being focused on the results. I will simply do what is requested.

I will trust you Lord. With you as my Captain I will never fail. I will be triumphant. 

Additional Scriptures

These scriptures may also be used to gain a deeper understanding of the primary scripture (Isaiah 41:10).

Psalm 37:25; 1 John 4:4; Romans 8:31; Judges 6-8

Addendum:

• Originally published June 10, 2017 at 1 AM.
• Rewritten and expanded on April 4, 2022.