One Scripture which will stand by you and help you never to make a mistake in following the Lord is I Peter 4:10, 11. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. What does this say? If you do anything, be sure it is in the Lord. If you minister, minister in the ability that God gives. If you speak, speak as the oracle of God. If you have a gift, minister it to one another as faithful stewards. You must understand that you leave the realm of the individual and become a channel of God.
We must keep in our thinking that we are channels of God, ministering an ability that God gives, and speaking by an anointing which comes to make us oracles of God. In no way do we turn to anything else. We can have our opinions, but we put them under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and let the Lord cover them. Is there something that we can do? Do we have a natural gift? That is not the question. Is God saying, “If someone has a gift of gab, then let him be a preacher. If someone has a beautiful singing ability, let him sing psalms. If someone has an administrative ability, put him in charge”? No, that is not what God is saying. If an ability comes, let it come from God. Let it be a unique ministry so that the man is not leaning upon his own resources or his own talents; he is leaning wholly upon the Lord. If he ministers, he ministers by the ability which God gives.
I have heard beautiful voices, and yet I notice that the depth comes from the people who do not have the singing ability. Those with natural talent sing beautifully, but their singing never reaches the depth because they know they can do it; they sing, but on a more shallow level. A man who has a real gift of gab may talk eloquently, but he does not hit the depth of revelation. It takes a Moses, a man of slow speech, to speak the miracles of God. It takes a man like Paul. Paul said his speech was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom (I Corinthians 2:4). It was said that his speech was contemptible (II Corinthians 10:10). His speech was contemptible; that is what it takes for a man to speak as an oracle of God. Sooner or later we will learn that our limitations are not a handicap, but to the contrary, they may be an advantage because they may teach us to wholly rest upon the Lord rather than rest upon our abilities.
You may have an inferiority complex and say, “I can’t do it. There’s nothing in me that can accomplish it,” but if you trust the Lord, there is the miracle working power of the Lord. The Lord picked the weak men to confound the mighty, the base and despised things, the weak and foolish things to confound the wise. Why did He do that? That no flesh would glory in His presence (I Corinthians 1:27–29). None will come saying, “I have the ability. I have the talent. I can do it.” No, the Lord says, “Don’t lean upon that; don’t lean on your own understanding; don’t boast in what you can do; don’t boast in what you can accomplish.” If you are hampered by feeling: “I have less than anyone else; I am completely unworthy; I have no capacity to do the thing I have to do,” good; that is a good foundation. From there you start seeking the Lord saying, “Lord, You help me. The Lord is my helper. The Lord strengthens my arms so that a bow of steel is broken in my arms, and by my God I fought a troop and leapt a wall.” Works that are beyond human capacity you enter into because you trust the Lord.
What happens to people who think they are righteous? People who think they are good, who think they are God’s exhibition of character and nobility turn out to be pharisees who hinder the work of God rather than help it. Someone who is meek and lowly is effective. The Lord says, “The harlots and the publicans go into the Kingdom of God ahead of the self-righteous (Matthew 21:31).
It is not a necessity that you feel inadequate in the natural, but I think it is a help. If you feel inadequate, determine in your heart: “I’m inadequate, but I will trust the Lord, and I’m going to get in there and do it.” Who are the ones who do the work in the Living Word building? They are not the self-confident. They are the people in the body with no special talent; we bless them, and they turn out to be anointed ministries to do the job. If you think, “I can’t do anything,” all you need to do is open your heart to the Lord and cry, “Lord, You must anoint me. You will help me. The yoke will be destroyed, the limitations will disappear because I am going to trust God to enable me to do it.”
People who have a conceited opinion of themselves and sit back and criticize someone else will learn the hard way. I know that. You can look at me and say, “I see your faults. I see your problems.” Yet, I see them better than you do, but that is beside the point. “I see this, and I can’t help but be critical.” If you look at any man God has raised up to be an apostle or prophet and criticize him because you see that God chose a weak vessel, then you don’t know anything about God’s plan, you don’t know anything about God’s working. If you are looking for a man who is perfect in the flesh and perfect in every way, you have missed God’s movings completely; you know nothing about what He is doing.
You must look at a man and see that he may be limited in many ways, but he is God’s man and His hand is upon him. You can see how that treasure is in an earthen vessel. Paul used that terminology: “We have this treasure in an earthen vessel” (II Corinthians 4:7). Because God put that treasure in an earthen vessel, glorify God for it. Don’t stand around and spit on the vessel; that will do no good, and God will deal with you on that. God is to be the one glorified, not man. You are going to see men with all their faults, and you are going to see the glory of God in it. That is how you must see. You are going to hear a word from God, and it will shake the world doing the ministry of God. When it is all done, no flesh will glory in His presence, not one. By the same token, if you are not to criticize and downgrade the leaders, don’t do it to yourself either. Have respect for the fact that God chose you as a weak vessel, a channel who may need a lot of help.
Some of the finest ministries develop in those who constantly have problems. You could look at such a one and say, “Isn’t that too bad.” No, the only way God can get anything out of him is to keep him humble, keep him waiting on the Lord. You do not criticize him; you do not criticize the vessel. The same principle applies to the way you look at yourself. You will help one another, not knock one another down. You are going to break those little yardsticks you have used to measure your brothers and throw them away. You are not going to measure people by carnal standards. You must realize that God is raising up many people who all are unworthy, but He will show His glory and His majesty through it. A man will grow and be blessed because he has someone who does not judge him or look at him as a channel unworthy and inadequate. The worthiness is not the issue. God is bringing forth these inadequate vessels; that is the only thing He is doing these days. He is taking the little and bringing it to much, taking nothing and bringing to pass His will in it. Do you think God will use you? Can you say, “It doesn’t matter how inadequate I am, how many problems I have on the emotional level, what anybody seems to do to me: I will trust the Lord that He’s going to use me. I am an instrument in the hands of the Lord”? In Isaiah it is said of Jacob: “Fear not thou worm Jacob, for I will make thee a sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them into chaff.” (Isaiah 41:14, 15). “A little worm will thresh the mountain?” It was a divine hand that knew how to wield the worm and make him into that threshing instrument. Don’t say, “I can’t do it,” or “I’m unworthy.”
Something must change, or we will have people who worship the Lord, rejoice in the walk, but are not daring to believe to be a miracle instrument themselves or to believe that God will use and work through them. As a result they will be overcome by a feeling of insufficiency, of inadequacy; they will back off, withdraw, and become rebellious. Soon they will be on the sideline. It takes grace to say, “I don’t care how much I’ve failed, I don’t care how weak I am. God has given a word over me, and I am going to seek His face until He alone is glorified. Anyone who has known me and known how I’ve failed and known how weak I am, how foolish I am, how far short I am, will see God moving and praise the Lord.” It is only the Lord. No flesh will glory in His presence.