Do You Feel Unworthy?

Today in the readings we meet Isaiah, Paul, and Peter who each feel some degree of unworthiness, sinfulness, and fault when faced with who God is calling them to be. Yet, they encounter God and consent to being sent by Him.

Perhaps you and I feel this way sometimes. When faced with our own sin and weakness, we may also feel unworthy and like we could not be a worse person for the role God calls us to either because of our own mind battles or because others make us feel that way.

Our minds can become our enemy telling us that we simply don’t measure up to who we could be and may call to mind a litany of sins and faults that make us feel unworthy. I have known my own thoughts of unworthiness such as I’m not good enough for what God is asking me to do in all my sin, weakness, and fault. These thoughts are not of God, I have come to learn.

There are also plenty of people around us that make us feel unworthy and like we don’t measure up. I have known disrespect, harsh words, and ignorance from others when it comes to what God has asked me to do in almost every situation God has called me to. We live in a culture of critics who make us feel unworthy for the roles we are placed in.

But God’s sending me wins over my unworthiness, whether those feeling are from my own mind or instilled by others. He knows I’m a person that says “yes” and I know He placed me in those roles for a reason and I’m to carry them out until He moves me on. Ultimately, it’s our willingness to be sent, do the work, and be humble enough to be transformed by His grace that God wants most. These are the traits we see in Isaiah, Paul, and Peter.

God doesn’t need our perfection. He doesn’t need our sense of worthiness or unworthiness. He just needs our “yes” to being sent, worked through, and transformed by His grace. Those humble enough to listen to Him and be sent are who God desires to be His messengers and "fishers of men."