Watching my son play soccer ranks as one of my favorite weekend activities. Now that he is a teenager, the games require much more skill and strategy than in years prior. His team wins when they play wisely and employ skills possessed through many hours of practice. Mama Bear gets pretty passionate on the sidelines encouraging the team and I’ve been dubbed the Team Cheerleader who rallies the other parents to chime in with me. We often bellow, “You’ve got this, boys! You can do it!”
This all sounds well and good and everyone needs encouragement, but sometimes in life, we just “ain’t got it.”
We face circumstances and seasons where we know we are only going to be able to make it through by the grace of God.
Fear sets in because we cannot rely on ourselves. We are realistic about our inability to be enough. We look within ourselves and unequivocally know we just don’t have the power to eradicate cancer, equip a loved one to overcome an addiction, put the prodigal on the path back home, or look into the future with certainty of the outcome we so desperately desire. We can’t do it and we don’t know what to do. We are inadequate.
God never asked Moses to consider himself or his abilities.
God implored Moses in Exodus 3:14 to consider who He is: “I AM WHO I AM.” God never tried to convince Moses that he had what it took to get the job done. He never reminded him how he had received the finest education in the ancient world. He didn’t replay the scene when Moses single-handedly drove away a crowd of shepherds, coming to the rescue of Jethro’s daughters. God never mentioned one single attribute of either Moses’ skills, life experiences, or character.
God simply asked Moses to believe Him.
When we face a situation in which we cannot secure the outcome, our loss of control makes us afraid. While we believe that God is all powerful and is able to deliver any outcome He so desires, we wrestle with whether or not He wills it. In other words, we believe God is able to make good on His promises, but we wonder if He is willing to be good on our behalf.
God invites us into a place of intimacy where we can become confident of His character…
even when He secures an outcome we would not have chosen. He loves us too much to give us anything less than what is best. When God calls us to a circumstance or season of life that is out of our control, He doesn’t remind us of all the reasons we can rely on ourselves. Instead, He promises His presence will go with us.
Never once does God ask Moses to focus on his own introspection, skill set, or strength. Instead, God patiently and faithfully reveals a new aspect of Himself to Moses – calming his fears and lifting his gaze above the circumstances. As Moses’ relationship with God grows, so does his confidence in God’s character.
This is the care of the great I AM.
As we rest in our identity that we are chosen, called, and equipped by our loving heavenly Father, our own fear of inadequacy becomes enveloped within His mighty arms of grace. We will never be adequate within ourselves, but I AM will always be enough. He’s got this.
Adapted from Letting God Be Enough: Why Striving Keeps You Stuck & How Surrender Sets You Free by Erica Wiggenhorn (© 2021). Published by Moody Publishers. Used by permission.
