And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.

"I've got this." It could have been my mantra in my 20s, it flitted through my mind so often. I felt my life would be safer, easier, and just better if I just took care of myself.

However, life is always quick to remind me that, no, I don't got this. I spent much of my college years trying to convince myself of my capability, hoping that would displace the insecurities I carried. I'm learning more and more, though, that convincing myself I've got this isn't the remedy for insecurity at all.

I love this passage from Paul that we're studying today because it reveals his own battle with insecurity and the only remedy in which he found true rest. Rather than propping himself up and defending his capability to do the job the Lord assigned to him, he chose to lean entirely on the only support sufficient to bear the weight of his call: the cross.

1 Corinthians 2:2-3 says, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you [the Corinthians] except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling." Rather than self-protecting, Paul is completely transparent about his insecurities and insufficiencies. Paul knew the rules of classical Greek rhetoric: One's ethos, or credibility, would be undermined were he to reveal such weaknesses. Anyone teaching business, sales, marketing will likewise advise you not to lead with your insufficiencies, and these are wise tactics - when what you're selling is a product or your own abilities.

But praise God, the gospel isn't about me or you! It's about the work and sufficiency of Jesus alone, who has zero insufficiencies. In fact, Paul seems as though he has reached a place of being grateful for his weaknesses, because they eliminate a common confusion we humans often fall into: "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

Insecurities focus our attention back on ourselves, but with the cross in sight, we're reminded that God's power is the only thing worth boasting in anyway. Because Jesus has no insufficiencies, I can have no insecurity.

Where is God calling you to fully rely on his sufficiency instead of trying to camouflage your insecurities? Maybe you've been thinking about joining a small group, but insecurity has kept you from putting yourself out there with new people. Maybe you want to join a serve team at ACF, but you're not sure you'd bring anything to the table. Maybe you have someone in your life you've been feeling called to share the gospel with, but insecurity bubbles up every time you see the opportunity.

What if we switched from the world's lens, which is so concerned with image, ethos, and self-sufficiency, to a gospel lens? This way of looking at our weaknesses doesn't try to hide them, it actually acknowledges and amplifies them, that Jesus' power working through us might get all the more glory and recognition. When we resolve to rely on nothing but "Jesus Christ and him crucified" - on the saving work of Jesus that has restored us to right relationship with God - our insecurities actually become a beacon, not for our own ineptitude, but a neon arrow we can use to point others toward Jesus Christ and his complete goodness and sufficiency.

When I rely on that truth, I find rest and release from insecurity's crushing weight. I can lay down my need to convince others and myself that I've got this, because I know the cross says to me, No, I'VE got this.

Jesus, thank you for the cross! I confess my tendency to believe that I can take care of myself, and I praise you that YOU are entirely sufficient! I pray that your Spirit would remind me of this truth as insecurity comes knocking. Help me to rely on YOU alone. In your mighty name I pray, amen.