Do you have a situation–or a person–in your life who makes you face the ugly feeling of being ‘not enough.’ Maybe that feeling comes from your own view of yourself: you simply can’t rise up to loving yourself. Maybe it is something that you care desperately about–something you want to fix or do–but it is out of your control. Can you bring yourself to give thanks for that situation or person?
Before we look at the thanksgiving part, there is an important truth we all need:
You are enough. God says so! You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Walk outside on a starry night and look at the sky. The One who made all that, who keeps it in place knows your name–and He says, “That person is so special, I sent my son to suffer and die to save her/him.”
So whomever or whatever makes you feel that way–it’s a lie from the devil meant to stop you from living like your loved. Throw the lie out and prepare to give thanks.
In the midst of that feeling of being not enough are two truth treasures that can transform lives–our own and others.
First, none of us is enough for another person. We are not meant to be! If we–or they–try to live off the connection we have to each other, our personal relationship with God is threatened. The typical response generated by ‘not enough’ seethes with resentment and bitterness. Those things block our own connection with God. Our response comes from the fact that the person who is creating our ‘not enough’ feeling is pouring out their own resentment on us.
We don’t have to react that resentment; it is just their mistaken attempt to meet their need. We can respond with compassion because it is not our failing at all! Being a child of God gives us the option to resist the temptation to return unpleasantness with more unpleasantness. Being a child of God allows us to choose to let the life of Christ within us respond in love. What a joyful way to ‘fill up in the flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.‘
The second great thing about ‘not feeling like enough’ is that it reveals this truth:
we are never enough when it comes to living like Christ.
If mankind could have disciplined itself into holiness, Jesus Christ would never have needed to suffer and die. It is Christ in me that is my hope of glory. Sometimes we need a solid reminder that we are not enough in this Christian life. No one lives without sin. Jesus freed us from the penalty and the power, but the presence of sin–in us and around us–is part of the human experience. That piercing sorrow of not being enough to fix a problem or help someone–it is the time to fall in reverence before the One who has it all in control!
Humility is the key to the Kingdom of Heaven. A reminder that we are not enough serves to draw us to the One who gives generously and beyond anything we can think to ask.So, whatever it is that has you feeling less than enough, give thanks to God–and let Him be your sufficiency!
Heartsong Ministries 