Every Hour I Need Thee

    

  I spent time this past weekend with 40 people I've never met before. We were all different ages and all came from various walks of life. We were all very different people and were planning to go to completely different countries this summer. However, we had the same common goal: to make God's name great and share what Jesus had done in our lives. 

    
  Many of us felt underqualified to be there, myself included. I wrestled with a lot of questions prior to my training weekend and even contemplated if I really should go to Ireland this Summer. Who was I,  a homebody (who's often in denial that she's even the slightest bit a homebody ) to think that I was ready to spend 2 months in a completely different country and culture to share Jesus with others? After all, I don't love others as well as I should. It takes me longer to build relationships with others and I don't even know if full-time missions is something that will be in the future for me. So why should I go? 
  
  But then on Saturday morning, one of our speakers mentioned something that I had heard before but clearly needed to re-hear. He told us that we were empowered by grace to go. We aren't qualified to do anything we should be doing, we will fall short because we are massively flawed. But it doesn't matter that we fall short, what matters is that we admit that we need Jesus. We all have flaws and imperfections in our character. We fall short of loving others the way God intended us to but though we fall short, Jesus doesn't. 
  
  Later on in the weekend we looked over 2 Corinthians 12 , where Paul talks about how Christ's power is made perfect in our weaknesses. It is a passage that I have heard plenty of times but again, it was something that I needed to re-hear. The more I looked over Paul's words, the more I was reminded of my own frustrating weaknesses but I was also reminded of  the hope I have despite my weaknesses because of who Jesus is and how he is working in me. 
  
   As I was reminded of my weaknesses, I began to think about times when I think I am doing so well, that I forget how much I still need God. You see it's so much easier to remember you need God when you're going into a new situation or experience blindly and feel extremely underqualified. It's easier to remember you need God when you're having a rough week or you see something in yourself that you need to work on. It's harder though when things are going well and you feel as if you have everything under control. It's harder to remember you need God when you cannot think of something you need to work on. The thing is though, we need God every single hour. There is not a minute that goes by that you and I are any less messy people in need of Jesus. Because I am going to screw up and I am going to fall short of living the way I am called to. That's just the truth. I don't have to wallow about it though because I find that the more I admit how much I need God, the more room He has to work in me and make me who He wants me to be. 

 So maybe you've started off the week on a bad foot. You've messed up multiple times, feel ungrateful or are wrestling through something difficult that you don't feel prepared to handle. Maybe you've had a great start to the week, and feel like from here on out, it's smooth sailing. Regardless of how your Monday has been, remember that you need God every single minute and that even if you don't feel qualified to be a part of something, it doesn't matter if you are qualified because Jesus is at work in you and he will give you strength and wisdom to do whatever opportunity God has placed before you, you just have to give him room to work by admitting that you need him. 

 I hope that this reminder could bring some encouragement to you today. Have a great week!