Hello guys.  I’m so happy to be back with you.  Alejandra did a great job talking about Overcoming Fear.  Today starts our new topic on the new subject of being unqualified.  We’re going to talk about our insecurities, shortcomings and our fear of failure.

Totally Unqualified

When you think of the word unqualified, what comes to your mind?  I think of someone who interviews for a job and they don’t receive that expected call back because they lack experience, or education in the field they are applying for.  To me, it is a word that sounds harsh and cruel as if to confirm that you just aren’t good enough.  I’m working on my second book and hope to have it published before the end of the year.  In this book I am hoping to show the Christian walk in a different way—not a better way–just expounding on another side to this life.  I took a step of faith and decided to pitch the manuscript to a certain agency, but before doing that I questioned my abilities, qualifications and expertise in this area; I questioned everything.

These were all the same questions that they asked me before reviewing the manuscript.

1. What makes you an expert on this topic? 
2. What degree do you have? 
3. What organization do you have behind you?

I had to wait 30 days for them to review my book and then they would let me know if my manuscript was good enough to be reviewed.  Over 30 days later, I was taken back by their answer when I saw the review from Editor #9 of my manuscript.  It was nothing short of pure negativity and discouragement.  They went on to tell me that my story is fast-paced and exciting, but there was one thing wrong with the whole thing…I was a nobody.  They went on to remind me of the thing I told myself before I even sent the book in, I am not infamous or famous enough and my manuscript is not something people are talking about, but if I was (basically) a somebody they would have taken me.   Even though the manuscript was something that would keep everyone’s attention and even though the world needs to hear what I was writing about, I was unqualified to be the one talking about it because I am a nobody and so I was denied.

Unqualified and Knowing It

In the current season of my life, I have been in need of messages that were going to stretch me beyond my own warped thinking.  I am in a season now where I know that God is calling this ministry and myself to something more than what I could ever imagine.  During this season God gave me a distant mentor to help encourage me to do the unthinkable.  Even though he is 2 years younger than me, God has used New York Times Best Selling author Steven Furtick, writer of books like Crash the Chatterbox and Seven-Mile Miracle to minister to me now.  As the Senior Pastor of his church of 25,000 people in 15 different locations, he was faced with an expert’s opinion of himself and ministry by a famous theologian.   In one of his preaching’s Steven Furtick explained that one day he turned on a random YouTube video, just to listen to something, and was surprised when his name came up in an interview with an undisclosed famous theologian.

The interviewer was asking the theologian what he thought of some people and Steven’s name was on the list.  Steven was intrigued as he waited anxiously for the man to answer and express  his thoughts.  You would think he would say words like, fresh, new, inspiring, exciting, unique even perplexing, but unfortunately, Steven listen as the theologian told the interviewer what Steven already knew about himself.  When this theologian hears the name Steven Furtick he thinks, “unqualified.”   How did Steven feel hearing this judgmental, critical, man say that he was unqualified to be a pastor?  In his preaching (there will be a link after the blog) to introduce this new book, he stated that he laughed because Steven called himself unqualified long before this YouTube video ever came out; it wasn’t news to him.

For myself, I wondered, “How do I move forward when the world confirms my worst thoughts of myself?”  I remember when I was 8 or maybe 9 years of age I felt “good for nothing.”  Think about those words.  My home life didn’t help my own thoughts of myself.  My environment made me feel like there was nothing I was good for; I was just a waste, just a loser.  I remember one occasion where those feelings came up and I looked at myself and said, “I’ll prove you wrong.”   When you battle within yourself about who you are, you want to give up on reaching that better you because those that should be rooting for you are trying to get you to quit.

When I read those words from Editor#9, I wondered what the next move would be.  It’s true, I am a nobody, I’m not famous, I’m not infamous.  It was no different than hearing that I’m good for nothing.  So I guess the best thing is to put my new book away and wait for someone more qualified to lead the world into that new revolution.

Accepting My Weakness

Steven’s book Unqualified came out just in time to pick me up from the floor and it’s the reason I wanted to use it to encourage you because I know I am not alone here.  On page 4 of his book it says, “Many people…deal constantly with the voices in their heads telling them that they don’t qualify, that they will never qualify, that they are totally, epically disqualified.”  Can you relate with those feelings of being disqualified for the blessings, a better life, a mind of peace, good health, joy etc?  Well he goes on to say, “This book isn’t about just changing what rattles around in our minds or what comes out of our mouths.  It’s about understanding who we really are now in order to be who we are capable of becoming.”  My challenge lies in the “becoming” part.  What am I becoming?   I have no problems with my current struggles in my mind about myself.  I have evidence that I am disqualified and a pure screw up, that’s not an issue for me, I’ve accepted that, the struggle comes when I’m told that there is a better version of myself that God is molding me into.  I battle with seeing how to look past what I am and believe for better.

The war in my mind is not won when I am reminded that God is in the habit of picking people who have been passed over (pg 4).  If anything I wonder if the majority is right and maybe God is the one that’s wrong.  I want to believe that I am a somebody, but when my actions mirror the life of a nobody and I fail just like a nobody, I question why he would waste his time with someone who is at the bottom of the barrel.

My problem also lies in the fact that that I allow the majority to dictate what competency really looks like.  “We compare people to our standards—spoken or unspoken—to see how they measure up.” (pg6)  Like the majority, I have my own standards for people and I join the majority in what goals and achievements I need to have before I can be considered “qualified”.  It’s about how good I am at what I do and about how much I accomplish.  The truth is, sometimes, I’m my worse critic and I hate the fact that God’s standards don’t match mine.

Steven says a lot of powerful, thought provoking things in the book,  but pg 9 hit me hard and I want to leave you with two things he mentioned that allows peace to come in…

1. Understanding that God accepts us unconditionally.  God knows your true identity—the real you—and he loves you just as you are.  What angers me is I don’t know the real me, am I alone in this thought right now?  Am I trying to change the real me, the part that God loves the most?  Can the thing I hate about me be the part that God accepts?
2. We must accept ourselves, including our weakness.  That means confronting the parts of ourselves that we may prefer to ignore.  And it means knowing who I am (and who I am not) in and through Jesus.  Confronting my weakness is just a reminder that I am unqualified.  It is just the thing I want to forget and erase, but God wants me to face it, embrace it and give it to him.  This point just reminds me that God is the only one who can make me into that person I am aiming for.  It also reminds me that who I may be aiming for, may not be his goal for me.

In the words of my cousin, I’m putting Editor #9 on blast! Mark this day down Editor #9,“I’m gonna show you what kind of God I serve.  He’s in the business of taking nobodies and using them to help change the world.”  I know 12 men in particular who were unqualified and they turned the world upside down!!! Our book will be coming out by the end of this year/beginning of next year.

Weekly Challenge:

Check out Steven’s message called The Glitch That Keeps on Giving

We have to look at God’s resume’ of turning nobodies into somebody.  We know Moses as a man who God used to bring down the Egyptian Empire.  God used him to bring Pharaoh to his knees through plague after plague.  Ultimately Pharaoh lost his life when he tried to follow Moses in the parted Red Sea.  Even though Moses was used to do miracles that had never been done before, he disqualified himself even though God qualified him with his presence.  Take some time to read Exodus 3 and 4.  In these chapters can you pick out the different excuses that Moses makes that mirror our own?  What are your excuses?  We all need to give God our weakness and trust that our failures won’t change God’s plans for us.  If you are comfortable enough, start a conversation or you can email us for additional support.  Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @throughthewinters.com