The biggest misconception about ministry is that you must have it all together. That you must have buckets of faith and grow mustard plants for more seed. That you must know more first. That ministers have attained perfection, must be completely healed, must have become whole, are a certain age, have a degree, licensure, are ordained, and live a perfectly spiritually elite life in order to minister to others.
This is a lie. Ministers are just servants of others. They are just regular people who only do what they do because of the grace, mercy, and equipping of God. Just look at those in the Bible who ministered. Here is a list I found on a Religious Jokes site.
- Noah was a drunk Abraham was too old
- Isaac was a daydreamer
- Jacob was a liar Leah was ugly
- Joseph was abused
- Moses had a stuttering problem
- Gideon was afraid
- Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer
- Rehab was a prostitute
- Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
- David had an affair and was a murderer
- Elijah was suicidal Isaiah preached naked
- Jonah ran from God
- Naomi was a widow
- Job went bankrupt
- John the Baptist ate bugs
- Peter denied Christ
- The Disciples fell asleep while praying
- Martha worried about everything
- The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
- Zaccheus was too small
- Paul was too religious
- Timothy had an ulcer
- AND Lazarus was dead
If you believe God is calling you to minister in some way for His glory then know that He does the work in you that needs to be done. It is His anointing that equips you to minister. Surrender to His ability to complete the work He began in you, and still be glorified during the process as you reach out and touch the lives of others with the gifts and callings He predestined you to walk in.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
Another Samaritan Woman 
I really love this. And so relate to it as well. I HATE getting the pats on the back and proclamations “I could never do what you do (I’m a missionary in Peru),” like there is something in ME that sets me apart. I always want to say, “Seriously?! You are probably WAY more qualified for this than I will ever be!” It’s grace that gets us where we are and grace that sustains us. God doesn’t call the equipped He equips the called. Thanks for sharing this!
God uses the foolish to confound the wise. I like Colton Dixon’s song. I think the name of it is Let Them See You. Without Jesus I am nothing. Shalom, Melinda.