Qualified by The Blood

I've realized now more than ever before that I'm not at all qualified for the roles that I play in life. I'm not qualified to lead a high school small group. I didn't even know Jesus when I was in high school, so how on earth can I tell these girls to rise above the peer pressure when I did nothing but fall prey to it? I'm not qualified to be a nanny. I have the least patience out of anyone on this entire planet (my friends are laughing right now because they can testify). How can I show the love of Christ when I can't even be patient enough to be okay with the fact that it takes a four year old 20 minutes to brush his teeth? I'm not qualified to be an outreach liaison. I'm just a fresh off the press adult. With 21 years under my belt, how could I possibly have the knowledge and wisdom to lead those far older than me? And by far I'm not qualified to call myself a "Christian"! By gosh, with all that I've done, with all that I still struggle with. Surely, God some how pulled the wrong name out of the hat. 

But what if. What if its not my qualifications that actually count for anything? When God called Jeremiah He declared "Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) If God appointed Jeremiah as a prophet before he was ever even born, then God must have pulled his qualifications from somewhere else. Being that God and He alone was there before the world was made, then it must mean that it's not what I've done or accomplished (or my lack of) that qualifies me, but it is what God has done and accomplished that qualifies me for the work I'm doing. 

Jeremiah thought the same way I do. (We'll probably be friends in Heaven) He replies to God's decree saying, "But Lord God, I don't know how to speak. I am only a boy." I sound like this a lot to God. "But Godddddd....! Really, Jesus! You must have meant to chose that other guy for the job. I'm only this kid with more failures to my name than qualifications." And while I'm saying all of my But Godddd..'s, God Himself, in His grace and mercy, is saying, But GOD in reply. "But GOD shows His great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:8) "But GOD chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and He chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27) And I realize that I am one of those foolish and weak things He chose to do His will here on earth. I realize that its not my qualifications that matter at all, but that the very blood of Jesus has qualified me to do all things that God calls me to do. 

So by the world's standards you could say that I should probably be fired from all these roles I fill. I'm not smart enough, old enough, talented enough, or patient enough for any of them. But GOD Himself has qualified me to do all of these things and more. And His qualifications far exceed mine. Thank God that we are called before He even made us, before the world itself even existed. Thank God that He chose us and qualified us before we ever stepped foot on this earth to do anything right or wrong. Abide in His qualifications; in the reality that as followers of Jesus His blood not only wipes our sins away, but that His blood also qualifies us to do the things we could never do apart from Him.