When God's Call Exceeds Your Capacity
People in the Bible who were called by God to partner with him for an important task in their generation had to face and overcome a monumental and incapacitating weight of fear and insecurity. With the call of God came the alarming realization that there were big gaps between them and who they needed to be in order to fulfill this call. They had to admit they weren't enough.
When God told the prophet Samuel to select a man named Saul as the first king of Israel, Saul replied by highlighting the ways in which he was unqualified for the job. The whole reason he even interacted with Samuel in the first place was to ask where he might find his father's lost donkeys. Saul said that his tribe (Benjamin) was the least of all the tribes of Israel -- and not only that, but his clan was the least in all the clans of that tribe. This didn't make a difference in God's eyes.
You see, the only way for God to use Saul was when he realized he wasn't enough. Step 1. But that wasn't all. Saul also needed to realize that while he in himself wasn't enough, the God of Israel was (and still is!). Step 2. So the next day, Samuel gave Saul a message.
"The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with [men coming from Gibeah]; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you." 1 Samuel 10:6-7
Saul needed more than just reassurance - he needed a revelation. He needed an encounter with God that would empower him to succeed in the strength of the Spirit, that would convince him he would never be alone. The moment that Saul was changed in the presence of God was the moment that the work of his hands began to prosper like never before, because he became a person functioning in the "Spirit" instead of "self."
God never calls us to something we can accomplish on our own. The motivation and strength needed for the call has to originate from a place of surrender -- where the love and trust we have in our faithful, unfailing Father is purified like gold until it silences every whisper of fear and arrests every doubt. After all, love is the only force stronger than fear, the only reason for us take up a cause greater than ourselves (1 John 4:18; John 15:13).
There are so many places in my life where I've felt unqualified and insufficient. These are prime opportunities to build an alter and praise God, because only then am I humble and open enough for him to intervene. These are places where his supernatural meets my natural in a glorious display that makes "heaven on earth" (Matt. 6:10) become a reality.
In what areas of your life do you feel incapacitated by fear? How can you surrender that to God and begin functioning in partnership with his Spirit?