DeWayne Hamby
Managing Editor
Have you ever felt like you weren’t good enough? You’re not alone. As an entire generation of our Movement leaves for a heavenly reward, Managing Editor DeWayne Hamby reminds readers that the same God who was with them will be with us.
“You’re not good enough.”
The very first time that doubt crawled into your mind must have been jarring. Raised by parents who meticulously insulated and methodically celebrated your accomplishments left little-to-no room for insecurity. At some point, however, you began to compare your gifts, abilities and shortcomings to others around you. Endless possibilities suddenly became more limited.
You felt an infectious optimism again when you met Christ. With a zealous heart, it seemed a certainty that God would reserve the right spot within the kingdom and among His ministers. Once again, you began to question your confidence in your abilities to carry out your purpose. This time, though, it led you to a more proper understanding—you really aren’t good enough.
A particular comedian’s recurring self-help character made a name for himself by staring into a mirror and reciting his mantra that he was “good enough, smart enough,” and “people like me!” I have some news. People may like you, but if you’re building on the foundation of feeling good enough and smart enough, trouble is near. Life will eventually pull that rug out from under you.
In the past few months in the Church of God of Prophecy, we have seen a tremendous leadership shift. An entire generation, icons of our Movement, seems to be moving on to a heavenly reward. Within the first few months of my coming to this office, I received a note from a reader on the very subject of our spiritual predecessors. “Who is going to fill their shoes?” he asked.
That question had already crossed my mind, since I was already stepping into a position once held by some of the finest minds in our Church’s history. My predecessor, Jenny, likes to remind me that when she first mentioned this possibility years ago, I laughed. But it wasn’t out of an attitude of indifference; it was more like the Abraham laugh in Genesis 7:17. I just didn’t think it would happen. Who was I to think I could join their ranks?
As I attended several of the funerals and visitations for these great men and women of God, that question kept lingering—“Who will fill their shoes?” Staring at a casket and listening to memorial tributes has a way of prompting such reflective thinking. If this world lasts another hundred or two thousand years, there will never be another Elwood Matthews or Harper Hunter or Miguel Mojica or Malcolm Linkous or Ntambwe Beya. Their races are completed and they finished them with excellence.
The good news for all of us is that the same Spirit that came upon them is still with us. We can emulate and should study with diligence, but the defining mark of these spiritual trailblazers was the anointing of the Holy Spirit. As Adrian Varlack recently preached during our Heritage Ministries simulcast, the world we live in is moving too rapidly for us to keep up. We are not smart enough to devise the best plans for leading and reaching new generations for Christ, but we can be plugged in to One who is!
Like so many other heroes of the faith before us, we are well aware of our inadequacies. Our Creator, however, is more interested in our potential. When Moses questioned, “Who am I?” God said, “I will go with you.” That’s a powerful promise. Notice that He didn’t promise a representative; He promised Himself.