Do I Have What It Takes?

So I have to admit, I haven’t planned on writing about this. Usually a topic comes to me and I think about for a few days and then write about it. I met with a good friend of mine this weekend to talk about issues guys deal with. We’re thinking of starting some kind of men’s ministry at church. We talked about the common guy issues of lust, fear of failure, leadership, and how we validate ourselves as men. Another issue we talked about has been on my mind and soul a lot recently. It’s probably something women face too, but I’m not a woman so I can’t say for sure.
Yes, I have experienced a lot in life. My strength has been tested and God has pulled me through many things, sometimes even when I didn’t want His assistance. I have learned many truths and fallen for many lies. I have to confess, sometimes I don’t think I have what it takes. Sometimes I doubt the strength that God has given me and the battle that He has placed me in. I read about this feeling a little over a year ago in Eldredge’s Wild At Heart. I know I have experienced this feeling before, but it is not until now that I can actually identify it.
Right now there are a few circumstances where I feel like I just don’t have what it takes. Oh, the great feeling of inadequacy. (That was sarcasm, by the way.) There are some areas in my life where it seems like I’m getting no where. I don’t feel like I have the strength I need in some of the relationships I have. This whole writing thing, do I really have the intellect and eloquence it takes? Could it be that some of these areas are not supposed to be victories for me? Could it be that some of these things are not apart of “God’s plan” for my life? I have never been one to give up and wave the white flag of surrender. I’m too stubborn and persistent for that. But there is still this feeling in many areas that I am not enough.
It’s crazy how sometimes we can feel this way. We pray for something to happen and it never does. We still want to hold on, but we doubt our grip will last for much longer. Or we wonder if we’re going in the right direction and doubt our ability to move ahead because we can’t see the outcome. Sometimes I feel like myself is just not good enough. My strength is not enough. I don’t have what it takes to be the man I need to be.
So my friend and I we’re talking about this again tonight. My friend said I just need to rest in the peace of the Lord. Simple enough advice right? And he didn’t say this as one of those cliché sayings that we Christians often pass out like free doughnuts. He really meant what he said. But his answer is so simple. And yet his simple advice is what my soul knows to be true. My soul knows that my strength will never be enough, but God’s strength in me will be more than enough. My soul knows that God’s will will never lead me where His grace cannot keep me. My soul knows the truth, but sometimes my mind refuses to believe because it is so simple. Though sometimes I can be led astray by the doubt of my own strength that my mind often confronts me with, God’s truth is what resonates in my soul and what I know is real when I listen to Him.