Christmas Inadequacy

By Laura McDowell

Do you ever struggle with feelings of inadequacy? I do. If you don’t, count yourself as very blessed because I’m willing to bet that most of you reading this experience feelings of inadequacy regularly. Whether you feel inadequate as an employee, as a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a volunteer, in ministry, or even as a Christian, we all experience those feelings somehow, in at least one area of our lives, maybe more. Maybe you feel like you can never measure up to that coworker who always seems to outshine you. Or maybe you feel like you can never meet the expectations of a parent or a boss. Whatever your situation may be, know that you’re not alone. And I’m here to tell you that there are plenty of people throughout history who felt they were inadequate and yet God still used them.

One of the things I love about the Christmas story is the simplicity of it and how God used the most obscure places and the most obscure people to accomplish something beautiful and amazing that would change the world. Do you think Mary felt adequate enough to be the mother of Jesus? Imagine for a moment, how she must have felt, when the angel Gabriel told her she was to give birth to God’s Son and, knowing she would be responsible for being a mother to the Savior of the world, how inadequate she must have felt in that moment.

And yet, instead of coming up with an excuse, her willing heart simply said,

“I am the Lord’s servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me!”

~Luke 1:38~

Or think of Joseph, after recovering from the shock of discovering that his betrothed was pregnant, how inadequate he must have felt when he realized he was going to have be an earthly father to Jesus and help parent and raise the Savior of the world. He could have easily made up an excuse and jumped ship. But instead, after an angel visited him in a dream and reassured him that the child in Mary’s womb was really from God, he “did what the Lord’s angel told him to do” (Matt. 1:24). He married Mary, named the baby Jesus, and became his earthly father.

I think sometimes we can let our feelings of inadequacy get in the way of God’s calling on our lives. We may come up with excuses to get out of doing something: “I’m not good enough at (fill-in-the-blank) to do that”, or “I’m just a (fill-in-the-blank), I couldn’t possibly ever do something like that”. Let me ask you something. Aren’t you so glad Mary didn’t tell Gabriel, “I’m not important enough to be the mother of God’s Son, please choose someone else”? Or aren’t you glad that Joseph didn’t say, “I’m just a carpenter from Nazareth, please choose someone else”? God still would have accomplished His purposes, but Mary and Joseph would have missed out on some incredible blessings.

As we finish out 2023 and step into 2024, let’s stop to reflect on what God may be calling us to do. Are you making excuses? Have you made excuses in the past because you felt inadequate? Let me share a little secret with you. God knows that you don’t have it all together. He’s very much aware of that fact. You’re a human and you’re going to have flaws. God knows this. But He doesn’t need you to be perfect. Mary and Joseph weren’t. They were flawed just like you and me. But they had the one thing that God does require: a willing heart. So it doesn’t matter if you possess every skill-set known to man or if you possess no skills at all, if you have a willing heart, that’s all God needs. He’s powerful enough to work through your short-comings. So stop letting feelings of inadequacy and excuses get in the way. If God is calling you to do something, He’ll help you with it. You don’t need to worry about that. All you need to say is, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me!”

Merry Christmas!