From 2002-2006 I worked to plant a new church called New Hope Brisbane in Australia. God prepared a young man in our church to succeed me, Matt Prater. It was daunting for him, but Matt did not linger in inadequacy, but took the steps of humility to serve and God has blessed him and the church for it.

Scripture
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38

Observation
Mary, the teenage bride, was asked to do a very great thing for an adolescent. On one hand she was to bear the favor of God in becoming the mother of the Messiah, while on the other hand she would cop the shame from those who would not understand.

Mary could have stuck with her first comeback and opted out of the whole thing. Passing the call to bear the Son of God would have looked to the world like humility. But true humility was found by letting God do something in her greater than herself.

Inadequacy can parade like humility but it is only a mask for insecurity. Avoiding God’s call to responsibility is really another form of rebellion. When I chose to hide behind inadequacy I am looking for a face saving way to skip out on demands that would require me to step out of myself and into God’s power.

One expression of humility is to allow God to do through us things beyond our capacity. Mary found that. In bearing the Son of God there was nothing she could do to take credit. She could only open herself. And when we let God work through us our inadequacy is what demonstrates his glory.

Application

Here’s a quote from the OMF website that demonstrates the point:

Missiologists and historians refer to [Hudson] Taylor as ‘one of the profoundest Christian thinkers of all time’, ‘a visionary pioneer’ and ‘one of the four or five most influential foreigners in 19th century China’. Taylor’s own assessment was somewhat different: ‘I often think that God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use, and that He found me.’

Why would the omnipotent God ask permission from puny people to do extraordinary things through them? Because God wants us to be involved in the process so that he may work through us. Prayer should not be a frantic waving to get God’s attention so that we can do things for the Lord. Instead, prayer is a passive openness that sets problems in his presence to see how he will work through us to do greater things than we could do.

Prayer
And so Father today I lay my life before you. Do you work through me and let us work in that together. Amen.