The Insanity Of Sacrifice - A 7 Day DevotionalSýnishorn

Day 6

Unqualified

But I protested, “Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6

Ruth and I can vividly recall how we felt when we first encountered the brutality and suffering of Somalia. We felt deep despair because we knew intuitively that we had nothing to offer. Nothing in Somalia looked familiar to us. And little of our education, training, and experience seemed to have any relationship to the staggering needs that stood before us. Those feelings of inadequacy led us to an obvious conclusion: We were completely unqualified for a task that God seemed to be placing in our hands.

Often people try to keep those feelings of inadequacy private. Even if we are unqualified in our work situation, for example, we know that we probably shouldn’t admit that openly. We simply carry on and do our best. All the while, we hope that nobody notices our inadequacy and insecurity. Even as we put on a good act, it is hard for us to ignore the secret fear that we carry around. We are certain that we don’t know enough and are afraid that perhaps we’ll never figure things out.

That is exactly how we felt when we first arrived in Somalia. And what a devastating thing to feel. The good news, however, is that our deep feelings of inadequacy forced us to lean on God. Like the Prophet Jeremiah, we confessed our limitations. When Jeremiah heard the call of God, he pointed out to God that “he was only a youth.” Jeremiah’s response to God made it clear that he didn’t have the wisdom or the experience to do what God was asking. But God quickly corrected Jeremiah and explained that God’s own presence, wisdom, and power mattered much more than

Jeremiah’s education or experience. “Do not be afraid,” God said, “for I am with you!” Jeremiah was not simply being modest or humble. In fact, he was telling the truth. Jeremiah truly was too young and too inexperienced to be qualified for the task. But God made it clear that Jeremiah’s response—as true as it might have been—was beside the point. If Scripture tells us anything, it tells us that God tends to call people who are too young, too old, too timid, too inexperienced, or too immoral.

God seems to take special delight in calling people who are inadequate for the task and almost certain to fail. And that is precisely what God had done in calling us to Somalia. The story is never about the qualifications of the one being called.

Rather, the story is always about this bold, risk-taking God who finds the people He wants, and then gives them what they need—so that they might complete the task that He has assigned. In effect, God says, “I am going to do something here—and I want you to be a part of it. You are, in fact, unqualified. But never forget that I am able.”

Bold, risk-taking God, we are inadequate for the task. Our excuses sound perfectly reasonable to us. We cannot imagine why You would want to use us. We are not qualified. Yet Your command is unmistakable. We hesitate even to pray these words, but we know that You can do more than we ask and more than we can imagine. We know that You can use even us. Through Your power, You can make us adequate for the task. And though our willingness is halting and sometimes tentative, we say . . . Yes. Use us. Despite our weaknesses, use us.