INSUFFICIENT? INSIGNIFICANT?
By Susan Tuttle
Have you ever felt not good enough? Like God is crazy for picking you to do something? There are times where I find myself laughing at God as He’s nudging me.
“Ohhhh, good one God. I really needed that laugh.” My laughter continues until I notice He’s not laughing with me. This creates a bit of an awkward moment as I reel my laughter back in. ” Um wait. You were serious? Yeah okay, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear you on that one.”
And I do. I turn my head, avoid His gaze and go about my day. I do, after all, have legitimate reasons for ignoring His request. Need I remind Him of the names on my name tag? Insignificant. Insufficient. They sit side by side. So just swing that finger around and pick someone else, because I am not your girl.
Well, as you can imagine, that excuse doesn’t work out so well. And, though that answer was never good enough for God, it only recently became not good enough for me. My hope is the same for you.
Just look at God’s Word. It’s full of people we would classify as insignificant. David to take down Goliath. Mary to birth a savior. Simple fishermen to preach the gospel. And many more who all answered the call. Can you imagine if they hadn’t? Surely they had moments of questioning or times when fear began to overtake them. Yet, instead of stepping into the fear, they turned and stepped into the presence of the One who gives us courage. In doing so, you cease to see their shortcomings and instead see God. He can do the same with us.
See, while we’re telling Him our name is rooted in insignificance or insufficiency, He’s ever so gently responding, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Amen!
So where you’ve written ‘Insufficient’ on your name tag, cross out that prefix and simply write ‘Sufficient’ because His grace IS sufficient. And where you’ve written ‘Insignificant’, cross out everything but ‘Sign’. As I studied the word ‘insignificant’ I found that it’s base is in the Latin word ‘signen’ or ‘sign’ which meant, “to mark with a sign, especially the sign of the cross.” And that’s what I want to do. Don’t you? Everywhere we go let’s leave our mark. The mark of Christ.
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Susan Tuttle has loved reading and writing since she was a child. In the past few years, God began to develop her love of writing along with a passion to reach hurting women and draw them into His healing hands.
A member of ACFW, Susan is married to her best friend, Doug, and currently homeschools her three children at their home in Michigan. In her early mornings and late evenings, she works on the books God’s placed on her heart with the hope of someday being published. You can visit Susan at her blog Steps: http://stepsusan.blogspot.com/
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5 Comments until now.
Susan, the study I’m doing this week at Bible study is about Him being strong and His grace being sufficient in our weakness.
Last night I had a mild panic attack thinking about where I was heading and how very small and insignificant I am. But God’s grace and this verse ministered to me.
Thanks for the post, it’s another confirmation to me that God is in control!
Great article! A wonderful reminder that although we can never understand God’s mind, very often He reveals His methods.
Amen!
Another great biblical example is when He spoke to Moses and said, “I want you to lead My people out of Egypt. Go speak to Pharaoh.”
Moses said, “Not me, Lord. I stutter.” He thought of himself as insufficient for the task.
God said to me, “I want you to teach.”
I answered, “Teach what? What do I know?”
He replied, patiently, “I will prepare you.” And He is preparing me.
We occasionally need to be reminded again that, when God calls us to do something, He gives us the power to do it. He doesn’t leave us to flounder.
Thank you for your timely reminder.
Amen is right! I still read this one and think God wrote this through me and directly to me. Glad it could be an encouragement to others today.