Some days my ego convinces me that I am the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Just as often, I find myself dwelling on my weaknesses and limitations. If only I was better at this, or at least less bad at that.
On both occasions, my mind is equally focused on myself. Self-pity is still self-centred.
Desiring excellence for God is a good thing, but only if it for God, not in His name but for my own sense of self-worth.
Having limits doesn’t mean I get to opt out of following God’s call.
Moses is a good example in Exodus 4.
He was a bad public speaker, and he tried to wriggle out of leading Israel because of it. He said “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
God reminds him who is in control:
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Still, Moses resists:
“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
God, however, doesn’t let him off the hook. But he does send Aaron along with him as a support.
God calls us to follow him. To use the gifts we have been given to serve him, and to trust in his strength when we are frail. Just as God said to Paul in 2 Corinthians,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)