When I was a little boy I was painfully shy and incredibly insecure. I would never raise my hand in school to answer a question, even if I was 99.999% sure of having the correct answer. It was that small margin of error of, “what if I am wrong,” that kept me from participating in life. I know that many of you reading this may say, “so what if your wrong, nobody knows everything!” However, those of us who deal with inferiority issues know very well that if we answer the question wrong or we do not measure up to the, “standard,” everyone will know what we have thought for years, that we are worthless to humanity and do not deserve the next breath of air!
You see, the true tragedy with those who suffer from an Inferiority Complex is that many times they do not have the strength, confidence, or the strong encouragement from others to take the first step of faith and share their gifts, talents and abilities with the world. Their fear of failure or being, “ found out”, keeps them in a self-imposed prison. So, they set on the sideline of life and watch life go on without them.
Speaking of the power of encouragement, you never k now how it can set the stage for something great. When I was in the fifth or sixth grade we would have what was called, “Field Days.” This event took place the last couple of days at the end of the school year. Each child would sign up to compete in various races like potatoe sack races, throwing the ball the fartherst, broad jump and a foot race and many other events. Well, everything within me wanted to run and jump that day but I just could not bring myself to compete. On this fate filled day I had one of my first encouragers to help me. A young boy in my class named Tracy Bass told me that I could win the jump and foot race. I still refused to do it even with his encouragment. Tracy did not stop there. He spoke to the teacher and told her that I wanted to run and jump then he asked her to call on me to do it. The teacher did call on me and I can tell you the only reason I participated that day was out of respect of that authority figure. It was that day that I won my first two, “First Place Blue Ribbons”! You can see a photo of the ribbons and “Jeff’s Story” at http://www.jumpingjeffclay.com/pages/jeffs_story.html Tracy is still one of those unique encouragers today as he is a local Minister in our County. I am thankful that someone cared and went the extra mile for me. I always wonder had I not received the encouragemnt from Tracy that day and of others through my life, would I now be in the unique position of encouraging others today!
My encouragement to someone dealing with the issue of Inferiority or maybe someone reading who has a close friend, spouse, relative or significant other that deals with this Hidden Handicap, would be to tell you from personal experience that the Lord has placed in every person gifts, talents and abilities. He desires these gifts to be used for the betterment of mankind. You also need to know that most everyone deals with a small measure of feelings of inferiority and fear of failure. Anyone who has embarked on a new career, started a new business, invented a new product or changed schools and moved to a new neigborhood has dealt with feelings of inferiority, thoughts of failure and of not being accepted by others. The Bible tells us that we are ALL failures in a sense. In the Psalms and again in the book of Romans the Lord says, there is none good, no not one. In Isaiah He says that man’s rightousness (good deeds) are like filthy rags. So, guess what? We are all in the same boat, so to speak ,when it comes to failure. Lets not stop there because ther is hope for us all. In the book of Ephesians the Lord tells us that as Christians, “we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Pauls tells us that, “we are MORE than Conquerers through Christ who loves us ,”and then “l can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me (you),” and lastly, “If God be for us WHO can stand against us.” It was His Word, grace , strength and Sovereign guiding hand that made it possible for me to break this evil bondage of inferiority. However, the Lord needs a willing vessel to work with. I encourage and challenge you today as you are reading this, that you will have a made-up and determined mind to take the first step of faith and ask the Lord to strengthen you by His Holy Spirit so as to enable you to unlock the keys of that prison door and walk out a free person in Jesus name! AMEN!!!
In Christ we stand,
Jeff
