I am certain that our Heavenly Father is able to make you excel in all your endeavours, if you will rely on Him for competence, efficiency and effectiveness in all that you do.
See, as children of God, it does not befit us at all to have a reputation for being lazy, slothful, feeble, weak, dull, lethargic, ineffective, inefficient and incompetent in our world. And that is because God, our Father, did not recreate us to be any of these things. Instead, according to the Scriptures, He recreated us so that we may show forth His excellent qualities in a world that is convulsed with mediocrity. (Cf. 1Peter 2:9) And the only way we can show forth God’s excellent qualities wherever we are is to learn to draw our competence from Him. This, as revealed in the Scriptures, is the secret behind the success of all the Lord’s people.
Look at Paul the Apostle, for example. In a letter to the Corinthians he says, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant…” (2Cor 3:5-6NIV) What is Paul doing here? He is simply giving the Corinthians an explanation for the competence and effectiveness they have witnessed in his life and ministry. He saying to them, “You can see that we are effective in what we do. You can see that we function with a high degree of competence in handling life and ministry. But I want you to know that we have been able to function in this manner because God is our competence. He is the one supplying us with everything we need to be effective and efficient in all that we do.” And isn’t that marvellous? I believe it is.
In any case, why is Paul saying these things to God’s people? The first reason is obvious from what he says—he wants us to know the secret of his success; he wants us to know that God is the one behind everything. And the second reason is that we also might learn to take advantage of God’s presence in our lives to live a life of competence and excellence wherever we are.
Now it is important that we do not reduce what Paul is saying here to ministry matters. I am saying that it is not only in preaching, singing, praying, healing and other ministry related things that we can expect God to be our competence. He is available for us in all of life. So, we can draw competence from Him wherever we need it.
When you look into the Scriptures, you will see that God has shown Himself to be the competence of His people in many ways in the past. Look at Joseph, for instance. God made him so competent in life that he went on from being a slave boy to being the Egyptian President that saved nations from seven years of famine. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Also, consider artisans like Bezalel and Oholiab. God so filled them with His Spirit that they became highly skilled, resourceful and competent in all kinds of trades. In short, they were master artists and expert teachers. (Cf. Ex 31:1-6, 35:30-35) Do you also remember how God so furnished Samson with strength and fighting skills that he became the greatest warrior of all time? And what about Daniel, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah? The bible says God gave them wisdom, knowledge and the ability to understand all kinds of literature and science and to solve all kinds of riddles and life’s problems. (Cf. Dan 1:17)
Now all these people excelled in their days and above all their counterparts because God was their competence, sufficiency and adequacy. We also can experience similar and even greater things, if we will learn to draw from Him the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, skills, strength, insight, foresight, courage and whatever it is that we require to be competent and effective in all of life. And He has already given Himself fully to us in all His fullness (Col 2:9-10). So, let us stop making excuses for failure; rather, let us embrace His provisions for us and utilise them to the full. We are blessed beyond measure!
Life Application: In which area of your work or daily life do you most need to draw competence from God, and how will you turn to Him for it this week?