Ever feel insecure? Just don’t measure up to the next person?

Have you ever met someone that seems to have it all together? Wakes up at the crack of dawn to pray for hours, spews scripture like nobody’s business, serves the community, never gets tired, never gets sick, never fights with their spouse, never selfish, never has doubts? Ugh!

Well, I am definitely not that person!

But when I read the Word of God, here is what I find encouraging:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. —Jer. 1:4-8

You know what I love about this? In these verses God doesn’t just give Jeremiah a pep talk, like ‘You can do it, you can do it!, Go Jerry!” But in these verses God acknowledges that Jeremiah is inadequate, He knows all about Jeremiah. After all, God created him (v.5). It’s as though God is saying “so what if you are inadequate, listen up - I AM not, so stop making excuses - let go of the baggage - and trust me!”

If you take a read through the Bible, you will discover that God used a great number of individuals who were unworthy, and inadequate to accomplish amazing things!

Noah was a drunk! (Genesis 9:21)
Abraham thought he was too old! (Genesis 17:17)
Isaac was a liar, just like his Dad! (Genesis 26:7, 20:2)
Jacob was a liar & a schemer! (Genesis 27:19 and many more!)
Leah was plain (ugly?)! (Genesis 29:17)
Joseph was abused! (Genesis 37:18f and many more!)
Moses had a speach problem! (Exodus 4:10)
Gideon was afraid! (Judges 6:27)
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer! (Judges 16:17, 14:2, 16:1)
Rahab was a prostitute! (Joshua 2:1, 6:17)
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young! (Jeremiah 1:6, 1 Timothy 4:12)
David was an adulterer and a murderer! (2 Samuel 12:9)
Elijah was suicidal! (1 Kings 19:4)
Isaiah preached naked! (Isaiah 20:2-3)
Jonah ran from God! (Jonah 1:3)
Naomi was a bitter widow! (Ruth 1:20)
Job went bankrupt! (Job 1:13-19)
Peter denied Christ! (Matthew 26:69-74)
The Disciples fell asleep while praying! (Matthew 26:40-43)
Martha worried about everything! (Luke 10:40-41)
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once! (John 4:18)
Zaccheus was too small! (Luke 19:3)
Paul was too religious! (Philippians 3:4-6)
Timothy had an ulcer! (1 Timothy 5:23) AND
Lazarus was dead! (John 11:1-44)

God was able to use all of these people for His plan and His purposes. What I love is that we don’t have to be perfect for God to use us. We just have to trust that God is perfect and has a plan for our lives.