UNQUALIFIED VS. QUALIFIED: Which One Of The Following Are You?
WHO AM I?
This is the question that men in the Bible have asked, who were called out by God Himself to be part of life-changing events that are a part of the will of our Father, leading towards the redemption and consummation with our Lord and Savior. Yet, from Sara and Moses in the Old Testament to today, we have somehow, as children of God, overlooked our identity in Him and the ways He can use us, even though He is the One who has created us for His very own purpose in the first place. We ask the same questions from centuries ago, “Who am I?” We question the inner voice of God when He has revealed a calling in our lives. We question what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us MANY times in dreams, through people, in signs, and by voice, because we assume we are unqualified to take on such a position in the life-changing movement for the Kingdom. A movement that is to reach out to the unbelievers and spread the Gospel to them for them to have a chance to receive Christ Himself and become believers who then also spread the Gospel amongst the nation. We think that the life that we live, or we feel like were supposed to live is what is stopping us from being qualified to speak to others because, “who am I to say anything to that person when I am not perfect?” or “Who am I to share about God and pray for this person, cast out demons, heal, and correct them when my life lately as a believer has been unstable and unfaithful?”
Sadly, we allow the unqualified list of:
Drinking
Marital status
Family
Sex before marriage
Unforgiveness
Doubt
Lying
Shame
Bitterness
Illness
Age
Gender
Physical Conditions
Financial status
Home environment
Area Location
Ethnicity
Education
Etc.
Tell us that we are not worthy, capable, or good enough to be used by God when He calls us into mission with Him, when that is far from true.
Was it not Abraham who heard from God that he would be the Father of nations through his wife, Sarah, who had laughed at God’s plan for their life, leading to doubt that, at her age, she could ever bear a child? She questioned His plan even further, to the point where she requested Abraham to sleep with their servant so that the servant could carry the baby that she assumed God was speaking of. Then, seeing how that all backfired, sometime later Sara becomes pregnant, creating the lineage of where Jesus would come from, time later, through her. Sara doubted God in laughter, and, from a worldly perspective of where her life was currently, with the “fact” of her age playing a role in her disbelief, she boxed God in, limiting what He could do, which He did in the end. He allowed Sara to be a part of His plan still and blessed her womb at the exact time that He told her she would have a baby.
Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Genesis 18:10-15
Was it not Moses who had murdered an Egyptian called out by God at the burning bush to be a part of the mission to free God’s people from slavery under a new Pharaoh who hated the Israelite’s? Moses questioned God, “Who am I?” He went on to give reasons why he was unfit to be part of a plan God orchestrated, even though God continually gave Moses answers to every doubt in his heart. Quite frankly, Moses’ disbelief angered God, yet in the end, Moses was used mightily, and God’s people were freed from Pharaoh and eventually entered the promised land.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.Exodus 3:11-15
How about our famous brother, Saul, who becomes Paul in the New Testament. He was a Roman soldier who hated and persecuted Christians, and he hunted them down until he was called by God and, through the Holy Spirit, was saved, which led him to become an apostle and spread the Gospel around the world.
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem…. (Acts 9:1-2)
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 9:15-22
You may think that you are not qualified to be a part of God’s plan and Kingdom work, but you are far from the truth if that is your belief. Alone, apart from God, yes, you won’t be able to do what He has created you to do. But with God on your side and only through Him, and the Spirit He has given you, you will be able to do all that He has created you to do, because it is His plan overall for your life. Not by strength and works from you, but by His Spirit.
“No, my lord,” I replied.
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
Zechariah 4:5-6
What has the world told you that you are not qualified for? What have you convinced yourself that you are not qualified for? If you don’t think you can lead a ministry, be a stay-at-home mother, or even be a wife, mother, and career woman, while fulfilling the mission you have been called to, you must remember that He has still chosen you. He, our Father who created you for this very purpose, has chosen you, the unqualified, to live life with Him so that in everything you do, you can succeed with the One who is qualified in you.
What Makes You Qualified:
God, Our Father!
Your Father did not create you just to exist in this world; He created you with the intentional purpose of being part of something beyond yourself. What you have here on earth (a nice car, a family, a good job) is cool and all, but that is not why you are here. You are here to be a part of the difference in those blessings that you have received. You may feel like you can relate to Moses when he tells God that his poor speech is the reason he couldn’t be used, but God sent a helper to Moses.
Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.
Exodus 4:12
Alone, you may feel unqualified and will ask the same question again: “Who am I?” But that is a question an insecure child of God would ask, in disbelief of who their Father is. That is a question that should make you reflect on your relationship with Him and lead you to make some changes to be in a healthy one, until you fully believe that it is not by chance that you heard His voice for this calling in your life. A calling that He would choose for you to hear Him in this very season of your life. But let it sink in if you hear His voice. To hear your Heavenly Father’s voice in the first place means you were never alone from the start. He has something brewing, and He wants you to be a part of it. He has given you the same Spirit that has roamed the earth speaking to every brother and sister in the stories that we have read before us in our Bibles. That same Spirit that has spoken to them then and today is the same Spirit of God that is speaking to you right now.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Hebrews 13:8
What I want you to receive in this message, Mama, Wife, Friend, Employer, Child of God, is that even when life is throwing a busy life towards you in the ‘necessities and demands’ of the world, never allow that to be the excuse for not living out your purpose. Do not let those blessings of being a mother make you feel like you’re not qualified for things beyond motherhood. In fact, my husband always tells me that motherhood is my ministry. A ministry that naturally makes ordinary opportunities to present itself for me to still be active in sharing our Father’s love, having alone time to maintain a healthy relationship with Him, and do what I am called to do. The same goes for whatever position you are in. If illness has you in the hospital or a doctor’s office, then share the gospel and God’s love. Do what you’re called to do. At work or at school. Good! Share the gospel and be who He created you to be. Let your peers see Him through your everyday life, simply created and devoted to Him. You don’t need the money and glamor behind videos showing what it should all look like to be in that healthy place with God and be part of the plan. All you need is an obedient, loving heart to say “yes” and trust that our Qualifier will do the rest! ONLY THROUGH HIM we can be and do such things so that we can never boast, but that we can give all the glory to Him.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
1 Corinthians 1:27
Scriptures
Moses and the Burning Bush
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Exodus 3
Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 9:1-22
