not enough: embracing the truth to dispel the fear.

Most of us have struggled with feeling not enough. It's what compels many New Year Resolutions.
​Not thin enough.
​Not spiritual enough.
Not disciplined enough.
Not present enough.
​Not smart enough.
​The nagging fear that we don't, or won't measure up can be crippling. Many of us have sacrificed freedom for living lives where we tire ourselves striving to always - finally - hopefully - be enough. But we never are. And the truth, sweet friend, is we never will be.

I know. You don't typically read posts that solidify the fear that grips your heart as you lie awake at night. You don't look for confirmation that the thing you've been running from - fighting against - that that very thing is, indeed true.

But it is.

​We are not enough. And the sooner we not only accept, but celebrate that, the better. Because, friend, we were not created to be enough. We were created in the image of a perfect, loving Heavenly Father - who is enough. We were born in need of a perfect, loving Savior - who is enough. We are daily in need of a perfect, loving Comforter - who is enough. 

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,  Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

​Galatians 4:4-7

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

​John 15:9-11

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

John 15:1-4

You see, friend? He loves us. He has provided Himself - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - because He is enough. He beckons us to recognize our utter, dire need for Him, so that He can fulfill not only our needs, but the needs of others through us.

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I'm learning when I feel like I'm not enough, to find strength instead of defeat there. To lean in to it, instead of wallowing it. To accept that I am not, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be enough. That position belongs solely to Jesus, and the strength comes in believing He's been gracious and good enough to share it with me.

Have you drawn near to Him lately? Are you abiding in Him, so that He can work in and through you?  Are you ready to embrace the truth that you can never be enough apart from Him, but His glorious grace means you don't have to be?