Preaching: A Sense of Inadequacy

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God....—2 Corinthians 3:5

I believe I had anticipated that it was going to be a pleasure to expound this beautiful and high soaring Gospel of John. However, I must confess that in my preparation and study a sense of inadequacy has come over me—a feeling of inadequacy so stunning, so almost paralyzing that I am not at this juncture able to call it a pleasure to preach.

Perhaps this will be God's way of reducing the flesh to a minimum and giving the Holy Spirit the best possible opportunity to do His eternal work. I fear that sometimes our own eloquence and our own concepts may get in the way, for the unlimited ability to talk endlessly about religion is a questionable blessing....

None of us can approach a serious study and consideration of the eternal nature and person of Jesus Christ without sensing and confessing our complete inadequacy in the face of the divine revelation. Christ the Eternal Son, 3,9.

"Lord, I've so often been at that place of total inadequacy. I've learned that that is so healthy, because then I step aside, I quit relying on my own 'eloquence,' and I allow the Holy Spirit to take over and do what only He can do anyway! Use me today in my weakness. Amen."