Capable? Yes!
If we’re feeling in over our head with a task we’ve been called upon to do, there’s strength and inspiration to be found in considering our God-reflected nature and abilities.
Sometimes we may have doubts about our abilities. At times they may seem so heavy that we feel as though we’re impostors, having no business attempting the jobs we’re expected to do.
When I’ve felt that way, inspiration from the Bible has helped me. For instance, Christ Jesus said, referring to himself, “The Son can do nothing of himself” (John 5:19). Yet virtually everywhere Jesus went, wonderful regeneration, victories, and healing works took place.
Was this false modesty? No. He explained that God was behind everything that he did: “The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10).
There’s good news for you and me: While we, of course, are not Jesus, we too express the same heavenly Father. We are the self-expression of the Divine. So qualities that stem from God – such as intelligence and wisdom – are always at full strength and present in each of us as God’s spiritual offspring.
When we’re presented with a difficult or overwhelming job or task, we don’t need to ruminate on whether we as mortals have what it takes. Instead we can draw on what we know of our true, spiritual nature as reflecting the rich goodness, intelligence, insight, and strength of God.
“Man is God’s image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God’s reflection,” writes the Monitor’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy, in her “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896” (p. 183). Just as the moon never originates its own light, but reflects only the sun’s light, we don’t originate ability; we reflect God’s infinite abilities.
As we come to realize and accept this, fears and doubts begin to evaporate and we feel a calm strength and hope.
Once, I took on a new job in a field I’d never worked in before and, additionally, suddenly had several dozen people reporting to me and looking for leadership. I felt out of my element, to say the least.
So I decided that each day, I would treasure that idea that we are all reflections of God’s nature, rather than mortals attempting to accomplish things through personal force of will.
It took a little discipline, as sometimes self-absorption and rumination would make me oblivious to the inspiration that our Father is always imparting. However, each time I released a sense of self-importance – even a slight one – I found myself more receptive to God’s gifts of reflected intelligence and inspiration.
Through prayer, my awareness of God solidly working within me – and all my colleagues, too – expanded. I was able to successfully fulfill my job duties, which soon expanded even more.
“Through God we shall do valiantly,” says the Bible (Psalms 60:12). Yes, through God we do valiantly – and capably. Praying from that basis helps us connect with our genuine selves – capable and productive – and overcome feelings of impostor syndrome. As Mrs. Eddy explains in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” the textbook of Christian Science, “Man’s genuine selfhood is recognizable only in what is good and true” (p. 294).
For God’s glory and splendor alone, we shine brilliantly by reflected light.