Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

Marti tells me she has trouble with the use of the word “adequacy” here. It just doesn’t convey meaning to her. So in case there is anyone else in that same boat, let’s try another way to say this.

What we’re talking about here, I think, is the source of our strength. If we are trusting in ourselves for what we need for life then we are going to have to face our fears and insecurities and come up with something clever to hide them. If we are trusting in the Lord, our fears and insecurities won’t matter, because He will be making us capable of being His servants in spite of ourselves.

The best illustration of this is the same one Paul used in 2 Corinthians 3: Moses. When Moses came down from being with God on the mountain, his face was glowing. It was so bright he had to put on a veil so he could carry on normal life in the camp. But when he found out that the brightness didn’t last, he kept the veil on anyway, because he didn’t want the people to see the glory fade and think that God had left them. So Moses was covering up his sense of inadequacy, shrinking back into himself and putting forth a false impression. Had he been able to trust as we can today in the new covenant, he would have realized it didn’t matter whether his face was shining or not, because God had given him everything he needed to lead the people. God would show up one way or another.

If we stay stuck in our fears and insecurities, we will never find out what God is capable of doing in and through us.

It’s all about the source of our strength: is it ourselves or is it the Lord? If it’s ourselves then we will have to come up with something clever to hide our weaknesses or insecurities. If it’s the Lord, those weaknesses or insecurities won’t matter.

This is what makes the new covenant so liberating. Whatever your excuse is doesn’t matter because it is God who is making you capable as His servant to do what He wants you to do. This is not about some magic genie that makes our fears and insecurities vanish. It’s the presence of God that makes us capable in spite of them.

It’s not that my sense of inadequacy goes away; it’s just that it doesn’t matter because God is making me sufficient for what He wants me to do.

It’s not that my fear goes away; it’s just that it doesn’t matter in light of the courage God gives me to step into what I’m afraid of.

It’s not that my shyness or insecurity disappears; it’s just that I possess a new boldness in Christ in spite of myself.

It’s like superman without the phone booth – Clark Kent without the cape. He still needs his glasses because his eyes are bad, and he’s still a shy person, but it doesn’t matter because he realizes he has the power to help people so he does it anyway. Wait a minute: You’re telling me that shy, insecure looking guy with the big glasses is stopping that train and saving all those people? How is he doing that? He’s doing it because God is giving him the strength to do it.

Are these just words or are they realities we can put to the test in the trenches of our lives? Well… only you and I can find that out.