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And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word 1 Kings 17: 1.

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought her fruit James 5: 17-18.

The main reason why people fail to try and do more in life is because they feel inadequate. They look at somebody else, and in comparison they feel less qualified, not smart enough, or not as eloquent as they need to be. Other reasons include too young, never did it before, and the granddaddy of excuses; "Fear of Failure". Not only do these things prevent us from doing more in life, they stop us cold from pursuing greater things for God.

I fight feelings of inadequacy all the time. I fight them in everything from supervising people on my job to preaching to playing my guitar. It is always there in the back of my mind somewhere. I’m always thinking that I might mess this up and make a fool of myself. I’ve learned to live with these feelings because I can’t seem to make them go away. But I’ve also learned to not let them hinder me from doing what I need to do. I am satisfied with who I am, and I made up my mind that I am going to use what I have to do the best I can while I can for as long as I can.

Just because we are not as knowledgeable or as skillful as someone else doesn’t mean we go home, sit down and do nothing. I know for sure that God will not accept "I can’t" as an excuse. We won’t be able to go before God and tell Him "I didn’t run for you because I was inept and unskilled, therefore I was not fit for the task of preaching. When I feel like I’m good enough to do what you called me to do, then I’ll do it. But until then, I’m sitting down". My advice to you is to just sit down, because at the very point you feel the most qualified, that’s the time when you are the most prone to failure.

Jeremiah heard God’s call for him to prophesy. There was no mistaking it. But the thought was too overwhelming for him. So he told God that he felt like he was too young and immature to accept such a huge responsibility. But God called him from the womb; He ordained him before he was born. That’s pretty young. He called Jeremiah to speak before he had a mouth.

When God told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh to let His people go, Moses used the excuse that he could not speak well. After all, this is Pharaoh and I am just a nobody. Moses had absolutely no reason to go to Pharaoh apart from the call of God. He had no other life but to stay out there with Jethro’s sheep, and work for whatever pension he could get. He had nothing going for him. Therefore when God told him what He called him to do, he obviously felt nervous about it. There wasn’t anything within him that could even suggest or hint that he could go to Pharaoh. That’s why God chose him.

Elijah was from Gilead. He lived in the wild country on the other side of Jordan. He was from the town of Tishbe, a community so small you couldn't get directions.

When King Ahaziah had a bad fall and got sick, he sent messengers to ask Baalzebub whether or not he would recover. But God sent Elijah to meet those messengers and to take His Word back to the king. When the messengers returned and reported to the king, he asked them in detail what the man looked like. "He was a hairy man with a leather girdle about his loins" 2 Kings 1:8. The king knew that it was Elijah, and that his words came from God Himself.

Elijah wasn’t eloquent, rich or well dressed. He wasn’t any of the things that we think we need in order to do what God called us to do. At one point a poor widow feed him, and at another period of time, the ravens fed him. Do you have any idea what ravens eat? But when he spoke, kings trembled. And it wasn’t because his daddy was a Tishbite; it was because of the Spirit of God that manifested through his life. He had nothing going for him but God.

Elijah didn’t have any credentials. He was a modest man; an ordinary (like passions) person just like you and me. But when he forgot about who he was (or was not) and let God take over, he was more than a match for anyone.

You may not have riches or be overflowing in the world’s abundance. You may not be the smartest or the most popular. But if you have God, you have a far greater advantage than anything else can give you.

You see, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was dead in Israel. But nobody told Elijah. If they did, he didn’t listen. Therefore, as far as Elijah was concerned, God was alive and in control. No matter who tells you what God can’t do for you or through you, don’t listen to it. As long as God is alive, you can do anything that He empowers you to do. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" 2 Corinthians 3:5. The Living translation says, "and not because we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves, our only power and success comes from God".

I can’t do anything of lasting value. I have nothing going for me but God. I don’t have the power and I can’t succeed. On my own I will fail. I can’t claim the credit for anything. I can’t take credit for success on the job or what’s going on in this ministry. I can’t take credit for myself as a husband or a daddy. God is my sufficiency.

God always chooses people who know their limitations. Powerful self reliant people are bothersome. They don’t need to pray because they already know the answer. They’ve been in God so long that they have their own anointing. Paul thought he knew it all, so he went around persecuting God’s people. He knew just enough to get in God’s way. When God got through teaching Paul, he wrote, "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and weak things to confound the mighty 1 Corinthians 1: 26-27. He said "not many". He didn’t say "not any". Most of us are ordinary, insignificant and unimportant people. In the eyes of the world we are unimportant. Actually, we are that way to the church too, except when they want some money.

Paul had credentials and he knew it. But while he was on the way to Damascus, the Light of God knocked him down. When Paul got up, he couldn’t see anything. For three days he couldn’t see or eat anything. He found no consolation in his education, philosophy or academia. Paul found out that all he really had going for himself was God.

After a while, Ananius came along and laid hands on Paul’s eyes. The scales fell off his eyes and he could see. Paul jumped up and got something to eat. He felt like he could go and evangelize the world. So he went and preached Jesus to the Jews. But instead of a revival, he started a riot. And to keep Paul from getting himself killed, he was lowered over the walls of the city in a stinking smelly fish basket. He felt like he could do it, but he couldn’t. He learned to listen to God.

Paul went from Pharisee of Pharisees to a nobody. But today we know that he was somebody to God. It wasn’t because of his education, even though he could speak several languages. It wasn’t because of his success because he spent a good deal of his time in prison. It was because of the God that called him and used him to do an awesome work. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, but the excellency of the power is of God, and not of us 2 Corinthians 4:7. There is nothing of us that is a source of hope or worth defending. There isn’t anything about us that is worth admiring or praising. We can only boast in the Lord. He has the power and the wisdom. He has the anointing. He is the Savior. He is Holy. If you want to be like somebody, be like Jesus. If you want to follow somebody, follow Him.

Moses was raised and trained in Egypt’s best schools. He was an aristocrat. He was qualified and competent for anything. Yet he spent 40 years exiled on the backside of the desert. Once a man of great strength, he had been brought down to nothing. Then one day he saw a burning bush, and God told him His plans. Forty years earlier, Moses would have said, "I can do this". But now he didn’t feel adequate. God told Moses, "I will be with you" see Exodus 3:12. That is always God’s answer to our inadequacy. It doesn’t matter how much you know; what matters is that God is with you.

God has promised to meet our every need, but we must cast ourselves on Him. His grace is sufficient for us. Jeremiah said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child". God said, "Do not say I am only a child. you must go to everyone I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you". Then God reached out and touched his mouth, and the rest is history.

It is natural to feel afraid when we face something difficult and uncertain. But many times these are the situations that God leads us into. Therefore we cannot let these feeling stop us. Joyce Meyers said, "I’m going to do it if I have to do it afraid". I like that.

We should never worry about our looks, voices, education, intellect or lack of talents. All we got going for us is God. He is the life giver, the healer and the prayer answerer. We don’t have the Big Answer or the grand revelation. We cannot perform miracles or do anything sensational or remarkable. We can only be ourselves, and bring what we have before the presence of God. Because all we got going for us is God.

By: Edmund Brown