I'd like to hear more from others about how they moved through feelings of indequacy related to mentoring.  I'm not sure that feelings of inadequacy are always a negative thing because they cause me to depend more fully on the help of the Holy Spirit. 

 

I can remember when God began to speak to me about discipling others.  I'm a therapist and one day I ran in to a man who had been doing marriage counseling with me.  When I had last seen the couple, they weren't doing very well and frankly I wasn't sure they were going to make it.  When I inquired of him about how they were doing, he surprised me by telling me that they were doing great and that they had gone to visit a lay counselor at a local church who had basically sat down with them and had gone through the Scriptures with them in the areas that they were struggling.  I was happy for them but my own sense of inadequacy arose because, at that time in my life, I was depending more on my professional training and hadn't really found a way to blend my faith and my professional training.  God used that sense of inadequacy to draw me into prayer and to arming myself with Scripture so that I could offer my clients real hope.  I asked the Lord to take control of my counseling practice and to give me opportunities to counsel from a Biblical perspective.  He answered that prayer.  Even though I get most of my referrals from insurance companies, God started sending me all kinds of people who wanted to deal with spiritual issues--atheists, Muslims, Mormons, etc..  It didn't matter what they originally came to me to deal with, they eventually would start asking questions about spiritual things.  In many of those situations, I had to do my research by making sure that I knew what Scripture had to say about their issues and by taking time to better understand their belief system and where they were coming from. 

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  • It sounds like God has certainly been talking to you & you have been listening. What a blessing.

    I have kind of gone in the other direction & need to work through this now.

    I had been leading my daughter's small group (6 kids, 5-7 years old) when I had ear/brain surgery for an acoustic neuroma. The surgery left me deaf on my left side. After about 1 month of recovery, I took up leading the group again.

    The kids and their parents were great. They supported me in prayer and in co-leading until I felt comfortable leading alone again. I finished out the 2008-2009 school year and took a summer break. I started out the 2009-2010 school year with a new BAHA (bone attached hearing aid) and did well for a few months. Then, my hearing in my right ear began failing and the BAHA wasn't working as well. I found I would just watch the kids' mouths move, nod & say, "Uh-huh..." I could not hear what they were saying. (Background: our church is a mega-church. The room for our small group had 5 groups in it of 10 kids each; there were 3 rooms this size for the second smallest service and this is only the K-1 grades) Once the other kids in the other 4 groups began talking, I could only hear buzzing.

    I stepped down for this school year. I am sad about that. I miss teaching the kids but I think it's better for them to have someone who actually HEARS what they say.

    I'd like to hear if anyone has any ideas about where/how I could serve.
  • Generally, we feel that we are serving only when we are visible to others or when others come looking for us. In the kingdom of God the greatest service is when we pray for the needs of others even without their knowing about us. You may like to consider this suggestion.
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