Feeling Inadequate? God Equips You Anyway

Do you sometimes feel inadequate to do the things you feel God calling you to do? This episode is a celebration of gratitude and an encouragement for anyone who feels inadequate to do what God is calling them to do. Host Julie McGhghy shares the amazing results from the podcast's first seven months, expresses heartfelt thanks to God and listeners, and reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how this podcast almost never happened.

What You'll Hear

• 2025 Year-End Results: Downloads to over 130 cities and 13 countries from just 18 episodes
• The Origin Story: How a friend's persistent encouragement and divine timing led to the podcast's launch
• Overcoming Inadequacy: Why feeling unqualified doesn't disqualify you from God's calling
• The Power of Faith: Taking steps before you're fully committed
• A Prayer for Listeners: Julie prays for everyone navigating doubt and discomfort in their calling 

Resources: 

 https://confidenceingod.com/resources/

 Hey Dad Its Me

Episode Timeline

• 0:00] Welcome and episode introduction
• [1:30] 2025 podcast statistics and gratitude
• [2:15] Encouragement: peeling back the facade
• [4:15] The podcast origin story begins
• [6:30] Meeting with friend Diane
• [8:00] The "podcast bootcamp" email
• [10:30] Husband's surprising support
• [11:00] From reluctance to launch in one month
• [12:00] Encouragement for feeling inadequate
• [14:30] Prayer for listeners
• [15:30] Resources and closing

Transcript

0:00

Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. This episode's going to be a bit different, actually a lot different. It will be an episode of gratitude and bragging. Now wait, wait, wait. Don't go anywhere. I won't be bragging on myself. I'll be bragging on God and on you, the listeners. The Confidence in God podcast began in May, 2025, and I recently received the year end statistics. I was amazed, not because of what I accomplished. But because of what God did for and through the listeners. What did you and God have to work with? Seven months, 18 episodes and 241 minutes of content. What did you and God accomplish? Downloads to over 130 cities and 13 countries. I am amazed and I am thankful. I thank God for drawing people to find and listen to the Confidence in God podcast episodes. And I thank you for not only listening, but also supporting the podcast by sharing it with friends and on your social media platforms. By supporting it in prayer. And even encouraging me by contacting me and sharing your thoughts through Fan Mail, email, text, and face-to-face discussions. In addition to sharing with you the 2025 results and expressing my sincere gratitude to you and God, in this episode I really want to encourage you. And the best way that I know how to do that is to peel back any facades that I might take shelter behind when I feel a little exposed. Surprised? Shouldn't someone who strives to help people build their confidence in God, be very confident? Don't I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me as the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13. Well, that is taken a little bit out of context when used that way. When Paul wrote it, he was explaining that he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances God called him to: good or bad, in lack or in abundance. He wasn't proclaiming that he would be some superhuman that could literally do anything. Yes, I do believe that God strengthens us to face all things, even uncomfortable places he might lead us to. I have a couple of other scriptures that I cling to through life in general, and especially when I feel God calling me to something I don't feel particularly adequate to do. Because of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, I have confidence that all scripture is given by inspiration of God so God's children may be fully equipped for every good work he calls us to do. Because of Hebrews 13:20-21, I have confidence that God, through Christ's death and resurrection makes us what we need to be and equips us with every good thing we need to carry out his will as he works in us. But I am human. And when I get very real with myself, I see my limitations. After all, I know as Paul did that in me, within my own flesh, there is no good thing. Occasionally I focus on my own limitations instead of the big God who equips me to do all he asks me to do. So, to encourage you, I want to tell you how this podcast got started. Back in 2021, I published a book and I started the Confidence in God website by blogging. Many people supported me by buying and reading the book and some left reviews on Amazon and other sites. Several people joined my email list. In fact, many of you are still on my email list and get notified when new podcast episodes are published. Over time, it became apparent that reading blogs was not something that many people wanted to spend their time doing. I began pulling back and publishing fewer and fewer blogs until I stopped altogether. Admittedly, I was no longer confident that God had called me to getting his message into the world. Now, fast forward to April, 2025. I visited a very good friend for an event she and her husband were sponsoring. Everyone needs a friend like my friend Diane. She sees in me so much more than I can see in myself. And she is not afraid to stir me up and provoke me to love and good works, even those I never thought or dreamed about doing. When we are together, inevitably Diane and I will be discussing God, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he's going to do. That one particular day, I sat at her island as she prepared food for the event and discussed something that triggered a memory of a message I had presented some time ago. I looked up the message in my computer and began sharing it with Diane. She stopped me and asked if she could record me sharing it so she could listen to it again later. No problem. In fact, I had a little bit of fun with it. I started by saying in my best DJ type voice,"This is Julie McGhghy sitting at Diane's Island on such and such a date and we are discussing such and such a topic." Diane being who she is, after I was done sharing the message with her, said that I need to podcast. Who? Me? No way. I was kind of done with publicly sharing God's word with people I didn't know and didn't have a relationship with. After my continued resistance, and Diane's continued provoking and stirring me up, I finally gave in just enough to agree to pray about it. And I did sincerely and even fervently pray about it. Guess what happened when I got home from that trip and began going through my emails. There was an email from someone I had been ignoring for a long time. I was surprised I hadn't unsubscribed from his emails because I was so through with blogging and pursuing a platform that I had unsubscribed to a lot of organizations that were resources to learn how to blog, to build a platform, to market a book. Whatever they had to offer, I was done with it. But there it was, in my email, from the one person I had not unsubscribed from, not because I liked reading his emails. In fact, I wasn't reading his emails. But I just neglected to unsubscribe. The subject of the email?"Seven Spots Left- Podcast Bootcamp, FAQ Inside." No way. I had never before considered podcasting except to say I would never do it. I don't recall ever receiving invites to training about podcasts. Okay, Lord, are you telling me something? Any of you who have ever hosted your own website or published a book and built an audience know that all those things cost money. I retired from my employment in 2019, so I was no longer contributing to the household income, yet my husband was willing to cover the cost of all of my efforts as I wrote the book, built the platform, and maintained a website. But when I ceased blogging and traveling throughout the US in late 2022, he never accused me of wasting money by continuing to maintain the website year after year. Yet I felt guilty thinking he thought it was a waste of money. When I received that email about the podcasting training, I humbly spoke to my husband and explained everything Diane had encouraged me to do, that I had been praying about it, and the email that was waiting for me when I returned. I asked if he thought it would be a waste of money for me to pursue the training. His response? You know you need to get moving on this again." I couldn't believe it. He was just waiting for me to get going again. What support? On April 30th, 2022, I enrolled in the training, but I was still not committed to starting a podcast. The podcast training was four Saturdays in a row. During the first session, the host promised we would have a podcast up and running by the last session, which was on May 31st, 2025. He also asked us all to share what we hope to get out of the training. I shared that I was just there to learn. I was not committed to podcasting. I had no interest in having a podcast up and running by May 31st. On May 23rd, I had the first podcast episode recorded, edited, and posted, but not made public. On May 31st, 2025, the Confidence in God Podcast went live with three episodes recorded, edited, posted, and made public. And I already shared with you the results of seven months, 18 episodes, and 241 minutes of content. Be encouraged! Feeling inadequate to do something God is leading you to do? Memorize and pray in faith 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 13:20-21. Declare to your heavenly Father that you know, you know his word has equipped you to do it and he will work in you to carry out his will. Even if declaring that you know it is by faith alone, he will honor that faith. Surround yourself with good friends like Diane. Jesus surrounded himself with three people that he drew closer to himself than the others he had called. Having three friends like Diane would be amazing. But I must confess, I don't know that I could find three friends like Diane. She's pretty amazing. Share with your Diane-like friends what you feel God is calling you to do, and ask them to pray with you about it. Then take steps to walk the road God has asked you to walk. Taking those steps maybe in faith, and you may take them long before you are committed, but God honors your faith. He will equip you and work in you to make the commitment and to do what he has called you to do. Instead of recapping the information I have shared with you, I want to pray with you. I told you this episode would be different than all the others. I don't think I have yet prayed with you on an episode. But before I do that, I want to share that there was a real difference between my approach to blogging and building a platform, and now podcasting. I worked hard to get people to sign up for my email list and to receive the blogs. For the Confidence in God podcast? I trust God to draw people to it, and I pray daily for every listener that God will draw them closer to him and bless them wherever they are in their journey with him. This has proved to be the better and more productive approach to sharing his word with the world. Precious Jesus, I come to you now. I thank you just as I have thanked all my listeners, Lord Jesus, for all you have accomplished in and through them and through the Confidence in God podcast. But more importantly right now, Lord Jesus, I pray for every listener, help them in their times of doubt, in their times of discomfort. Help them to not only listen to your word. When they begin feeling you drawing them a certain direction, even though feelings of inadequacy might pop up, help them, Lord Jesus, to just take step by step in faith and trust you to help them walk exactly where you want them to walk. Help them to acknowledge you in all things so that you will indeed direct their paths. Thank you, precious Jesus. Amen. Well, you might have noticed that I didn't invite you to check out a resource on my website. There are two free resources available to you at confidenceingod.com. Just go to the resources tab and click on one or both of them if you're interested. Also, if you have any interest in reading the book I published in 2021, it's titled, Hey Dad, It's Me! Discover the Father Who Loves and Protects You and it's available on Amazon. I'll include in the show notes, a link to the website and a link to the book on Amazon. If you want to know the name of the person who taught me how to podcast, contact me through Fan Mail or by email through the Confidence in God website. I'll be happy to share it privately. That's it for today. I hope that I have accomplished my goal of expressing my appreciation to God and to you for all that was achieved through this podcast in 2025. It would not have happened, but for God and you. If you want to be notified when future episodes of this podcast come out, please feel free to subscribe to our show and another way you can support the growth of the show if you would like to is to rate it or review it. That helps more people find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.