God doesn’t call the qualified people. He qualifies those he calls… you’re not perfect, but you are gifted… Never water yourself down because people can’t handle you at 100 proof. ~ Pastor Keion Henderson
What calling are you missing out on because you are too focused on not being qualified? I have a lot of fears in life. One of my biggest fears in life is failure. I’m not talking about making a mistake or saying the wrong thing… I do that easily and sometimes happily. It can be fun to be uncouth or off the cuff sometimes! Throws people off their game, but that’s not the kind of failure I’m talking about. I have a debilitating fear of losing everything, my mind, my stability, my livelihood, the people around me. Because… I have lost it all or so I thought during that moment.
When I was in the pit of my PTSD dark hole, I was unemployed, was in a car wreck so I was carless and in pain, I had just graduated from undergrad with a pre-med degree and no plans to use it (because I was terrible at chemistry!) my friends were leaving, and I was in emotional and spiritual turmoil. I was a straight up mess, and I was losing everything piece by messed up piece. I couldn’t even save myself much less be support for anyone around me. Failure was an inevitable part of my life, and I was doing a splendid job at it.
Flash forward 11 years, and I find myself still battling that fear of going back to that pit of failure. It was more than just the stability around me, it was the mind games I was playing with myself. But how long can you allow yourself to be tormented by your own mind games? If you continue to tell yourself you’re going to fail, or tell yourself you’re not ready, or tell yourself you are not qualified, you will begin to believe and bring to fruition that negativity. God never called us to this place because we were perfect, or the most equipped and qualified person. He calls us to this place, because we are the only vessel he chose to use to live out His purpose.
We are never qualified, but God is, and all he asks is that we trust in His plan. There can never be anyone else in this world that can carryout His purpose the way you can. He has designed you exactly for this purpose. So stop tormenting yourself with your own fear of failure or your fear of not being qualified. When that fear creeps up on you, I challenge you to speak a faith mantra to that fear. My constant faith mantra is a Bible verse my parents equipped me with during my darkest times:
Do not fear, I am with you. Do not be dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
OR the Kristie translation of this verse- God has got you! God has chosen you! Don’t allow this moment of seeming failure to define God’s purpose for your life. You aren’t meant to live in a pit of darkness, regret or self-doubt. God has already equipped you with the tools you need to fight this battle, and present yourself as his fearfully, wonderfully made child. Let God qualify you to live out your purpose.
