Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, October 15. Do you ever feel like you aren't talented enough to do anything for the Lord? Well, in today's podcast, we'll find out how our shortcomings could be our greatest strengths. Inadequacy is a very uncomfortable feeling. In fact, sometimes it's not just uncomfortable, it's very painful and it can be very embarrassing. And oftentimes it evokes other emotions in us that give us a difficult time. For example, the feeling of that we're going to be a failure, the feeling of fear of failure and criticism, the feeling that I'm unfit, I'm unqualified. And so when a person says, well, if I'm inadequate, how can I attempt anything in life when I feel so absolutely inadequate? Well, the truth is that all inadequacy is not as bad as it may appear.
And the truth is that all of us are inadequate to do certain things. So what I'd like to do, I'd like to give you seven blessings of inadequacy and I want you to write them down. Listen, if they're worth sitting here listening to, they're worth remembering. If they're worth remembering, the only way you're going to remember them is to write them down.
I doubt if you are going to remember all of them and every single one of them is important. Now, here's a man who is gifted, equipped, talented, skilled. I mean, the apostle Paul was certainly one of God's choice servants, if not the most choice when it comes to what he accomplished in life, it was certainly there. And so I want you to just think through this with me, if you will. And let's think about what some of these blessings are. How could that which makes me feel unfit, unable, not quite able to measure up, how can that be a blessing in my life? Well, number one, one of the reasons it's a blessing is that my inadequacy, our inadequacy drives us to God. Is it not true that when you face some circumstance, a situation in life and you feel inadequate, you feel helpless, you can't do it? What does it do?
Here's what it does. It drives us to our knees to say, God, I need you. I need you to help me. I can't handle this. I can't do this. This is more than I can handle.
This is more than I can face. Listen, anything that drives me to God has got to be good. Anything that puts me on my knees has got to be good. Listen, anything that brings me closer to Him, anything that shuts up the world and brings me into an intimate relationship with Him, anything that, as David said, my soul clings to Thee, Thy right hand upholds me. He understood what it meant to feel inadequate. He understood what it meant to cling to God.
Why? Because of his feeling of inadequacy and inability. Whatever drives you and me to God has to be good. So one of the blessings of inadequacy is the fact that it drives us to God. Now, if a person chooses another route, what happens is they ultimately lose.
And listen, you cannot face inadequacy and make the wrong choices and ever profit out of it. It is choosing to respond to our inadequacy in the right way. You say, well, you're going to tell I'm going to talk about at the end, but I want you to get the blessings first. So first of all, it drives us to God. The second blessing which is so extremely important is this. It relieves us of the burden of trying to do the will of God in our own strength. It relieves us of the burden of trying to do the will of God in our own strength. Now what do I mean by the will of God? I mean living the Christian life and doing the work that God has called us to do. God isn't going to make me or make you equip us within our own flesh and our own strength that we are strong enough to overcome temptation, live this Christian life.
He's not going to do it. He's not going to enable us in our flesh and our strength to serve Him in a way that is profitable and fruitful for the kingdom of God. Now there are a lot of people who can serve Him and it looks good, but the question is are lives being transformed? Is there real godly fruit as a result of their life? So one of the blessings of inadequacy is the fact that it, listen, it relieves me of the burden of trying to do what God never intended for me to do, walk in His will, work in His will in my own strength.
A third blessing is this. It forces me to live my life and do His work in the power of the Holy Spirit. It forces us to depend upon the Holy Spirit.
At every single point of ministry of the Holy Spirit is a point of inadequacy on our part. Every single thing that He does is something that I can't do. I can't convict myself of sin. I can't save myself.
I can't make myself discerning. I can't teach myself the Word of God. You say, well, anybody can teach themselves the Word of God.
No, it's the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand the truth. At every single point of my inadequacy, that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So listen, one of the blessings of being inadequate is it forces us to rely upon, listen, which means to surrender our life to, yield ourselves to prevailing control of the Spirit, which is what it means to walk in the Spirit. That is to yield ourselves to the prevailing control of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to enable us, strengthen us, empower us to live and to do the work that God has called us to do. Well, Paul said, I'm so inadequate. Well, one of the other blessings of inadequacy is this, and that is, listen, it provides God the privilege of demonstrating what great things He can do with so little.
It provides God the privilege of demonstrating what great things He can do with so little. When I think about Moses and when God spoke to him, remember what Moses said when God spoke to him? He said, who am I? Who am I?
Why you call me who am I? God took Moses, who didn't even feel like he could speak. And certainly, why would Pharaoh listen to him?
But he listened. He took one shepherd and a stick, liberated a whole nation of people through whom the Messiah came to save you and me. Well, what about Gideon, for example? Here's Gideon. He's up there around the threshing floor and the angel of the Lord shows up and he says, oh, valiant warrior.
What? Oh, valiant warrior. What do you mean valiant warrior? Who are you talking to?
Valiant warrior. So they get in a conversation. Here's what Gideon said.
Gideon said, wait a minute. My family is the least known family in Israel. Nobody knows us. We're nobodies.
And secondly, I'm the youngest person in that family. What do you mean, oh, valiant warrior? What did he do? He took this young fellow who was a nobody.
And what did he do? He liberated the nation of Israel from the Midianites. God took a little. You remember what David said when he was sitting before the Lord, the Bible says? Sitting before the Lord.
Here's what he said. He said, Lord, who am I that you have brought me this far? And he'd already been reminded that he'd been following the sheep. Listen, it doesn't even say leading the sheep.
He said following the sheep. Who am I, Lord, that you've brought me thus far? This is the David who said, my soul clings to thee.
Thy right hand upholds me. He understood all of his life how absolutely inadequate he was. Even when you see David sitting against God, what is he doing? Repenting and asking God to forgive him. He knew he was inadequate to do what God had called him to do.
You said, but now wait a minute. What about when he met old Goliath? Wouldn't he rather boastful? No, because if you'll read his speech to Goliath, he said, naturally, he told me, he said, I'm going to kill you and cut off your head.
But remember what he said before and after. He said, God will give you into my hands. God will give you into our hands.
He was always glorifying and honoring God. You could go through the scriptures. I can think about people today. You can think about people that if you and I were going to choose for something, we wouldn't choose them. And yet we've seen how God has handled them. And there is no way for you to be able to visualize what God can do in your life.
There is no way. Listen, he takes those things that are insignificant. He takes those little things that seem to be so insignificant. Listen, God takes great, great joy in that because that gives him the privilege of demonstrating how much he can do with so very, very little. Your inadequacy is an asset. It's not a liability if you know how to use it. It is an asset. Acknowledge the fact, yes, God, I am inadequate.
Listen, now watch this. Feeling inadequate does not mean that you're unusable. Feeling inadequate positions you for God to demonstrate how awesome his work can be in and through your life. Some of the greatest leaders in the world have been people who were very inadequate in so many ways, extremely inadequate, adequate education, adequate background experience and all of these things. But you know what?
They didn't give up. And I think most godly leaders have been men and women who did not feel adequate to do what God called them to do. Well, there's another blessing that I want you to notice here, another blessing in inadequacy.
And this is it. That one of the blessings of inadequacy is it frees God to use us to the maximum of our potential. It frees God to use us to the maximum of our potential. Now, God hates pride. I think he hates everything that even looks like it. And I have said to some people very close to me, anytime you get the slightest notion of pride, egotism or arrogance in me, you come straight to me, look me square in the face and say, that's a prideful comment.
That's a prideful look or whatever it might be. God hates it. He can put up with all kinds of things.
He hates it. Now, why do I say that one of the blessings of inadequacy is that it frees God to use us to the maximum of our potential? I'll tell you what. The worst thing that can happen to any one of us is to start thinking, I can handle it. I can take care of it. I'll handle it.
Just let me handle it. No, the wisest thing you and I can do is to live in the sincere awareness that we are inadequate. We are incapable.
We cannot do. Listen, we cannot do the work that God has called us to do. We cannot live the life that God has called us to do apart from the indwelling presence and power and exercise of the Spirit of God on the inside of us.
So it is a blessing. It is a blessing to be inadequate because it frees God, listen, to enable us to reach the maximum of our potential. Because you see, when you and I walk humbly before Him and are fully persuaded that unless He does it, it's not going to be done. God says, the humble in spirit will see God work for them. The humble in spirit will see God work for them. And He will take our inadequacy and He will transform it, and listen, into a divine adequacy within us. And He will enable us to reach the maximum of our potential because as the apostle Paul said, none of these things you sing is of me. This is of God.
When a person is living their life and their self-acceptance and their acceptance before God is based on the acceptance and the approval and the acclaim and the applause of others, they're already walking on the edge of God, no longer using them very well. You know why? He hates it.
He hates pride. And so the very idea that you and I feel inadequate to do whatever He's called us to do and to be what He wants us to be, let me ask you, who in here would stand up and say, I'm very adequate to live the Christian life? Who?
Nobody in their right mind. Nobody who's genuinely saved and so I feel very adequate to live the Christian life. Well, He wants us to understand that's the attitude we're to have about everything else He calls us to do. Well, another blessing, listen, another blessing of inadequacy is this, it allows God to receive the full glory for His work. It allows God to receive the full glory for His work. If you and I humbly before Him acknowledging that it must be God working in us through the Holy Spirit, that it is not of us and it's of Him, what happens?
He gets the glory. Now listen, two people may stand up and do the same thing. One of them, God is glorified and the other one, the person is glorified. They may say the same thing. They may look the same way.
They may act the same way. One, God gets the glory. The other one, He does not. When we live in the spirit of inadequacy, we don't have to do anything but humbly thank and praise God that He could take us from where we are and use us in any way. Well, the last blessing that I want to mention that probably many of us, the last blessing that I want to mention when it comes to the blessings of inadequacy and how profitable it is to be inadequate is this, that inadequacy enables us, listen, it enables us to walk in contentment and quietness of spirit.
Inadequacy enables us to live our life in contentment and quietness of spirit. Now listen carefully. I haven't turned to many scriptures in this message, but I want you to turn to this one. Many of you know it by heart, but I want you to look at it if you haven't got it marked in your Bible market. Psalm forty-six.
Look at this. Psalm forty-six. And in this translation, the New American Standard translation, I want you to listen to what He says because here is the key. Verse ten of Psalm forty-six, Cease striving and know that I am God.
Now listen carefully. Do you know my contentment and my joy in the Lord evaporates the moment I start striving over anything? When I acknowledge my inadequacy and say, Lord, you're going to have to do this. I just give this to you. Then I'm no longer striving with it.
I've laid it down and turned it over to Him. Then I can have a sense of contentment and peace in my life no matter what is happening. I lose it when I strive. I strive when I do not trust. And when I'm not trusting, I'm trying to handle it. One of the blessings of inadequacy is the fact that I can live in contentment and peace and quietness of spirit because I'm not striving. I know I can't.
He will have to do whatever needs to be done. Now, with all those things in mind, think about this for a moment. We've said inadequacy is a feeling of being unfit, can't measure up, whatever it might be.
But let me ask you a question. Would you not agree that it is a very profitable, that inadequacy is profitable if it will drive you to God? If it will relieve you of the burden of trying to live the Christian life and do the work of God in your own strength? If it forces you to rely upon the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to live the life and do the work of God? If it will give God the privilege of demonstrating what He can do with so little and do so much with it? If it will free God to make me be able to reach the maximum of my potential? If it allows God to get all the glory?
And if it enables me to walk in a sense of contentment and quietness of spirit? Would you not agree inadequacy is fantastic? Fantastic. Now, here's the key.
So, okay, I understand that. Now, how do I get this very negative attitude in my life? How do I get this in this positive fix so that it's coming out the way you say that it's, that this which is negative has now become a blessing?
How do I do that? Three things. Watch this. Number one, acknowledge your inadequacy. God, I not just feel inadequate. God, I am inadequate. I'm inadequate in this relationship. Inadequate this financial problem. Inadequate with raising my children. Inadequate on my job.
Inadequate to deal with this health problem. God, I am inadequate. Acknowledge your inadequacy.
Now, watch this second one. Claim God's adequacy by faith. Because the truth is you have it. If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of you. By faith, God, I am inadequate. I am claiming your adequacy. The presence and the power of the Holy Spirit within me, whom you sent to live on the inside of me in order to enable me to live the life that I'm to live and to do the work that you've called me to do.
I'm claiming your adequacy by faith. Third thing, step out. Step out into whatever you're challenged with. Just step right in to face whatever it is that God has called you to do. He's challenged you with.
Whatever has you backed up, whatever God's calling you to do. Listen, you acknowledge your inadequacy. You claim the adequacy of Almighty God. That's what Paul said when he said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He was claiming, listen, he was claiming the adequacy of Almighty God.
And when you do that, step out. The Apostle Paul was fearless. He was fearless in every circumstance of life.
You know why? Because the Apostle Paul understood that it was not Paul. It was God living on the inside of him.
And listen carefully. When you and I can reach the stage in our Christian walk that we know that it is God who's living on the inside of us. It is God's power in us. It is God's strength within us.
When you and I can reach the stage in our life where we can say, God, this is your life. This is your work. This is your strength, your power. This, this has to be what you're doing through us and what you're doing through me. I'm trusting you absolutely, totally and completely. You can face any and every circumstance of life absolutely, no matter what it is, with a sense of awesome confidence, not in what you're going to do or what you are, but because you know that God himself is living on the inside of you. Listen to this. If God who is omniscient knows all things, if God who is all powerful and controls all things, if he's the one living on the inside of you, don't you think that's enough for you to face life?
Absolutely. When I understand God in my inadequacy, I am loved unconditionally. I am known perfectly and I am held securely.
I can face anything and everything that life throws at me as long as, listen, as long as I continue to remind myself I am inadequate to deal with this, he is totally capable. Thank you for listening to part two of The Blessings of Our Inadequacy. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
