I remember when I first came to church as a young woman, I had just come out of an abusive situation and was still very broken. I had dysfunctional patterns and habits in my life, and I didn’t have any self-confidence at all. I just felt like I was not good enough.
I looked around at all these people in church and they seemed to have it all altogether. They knew their Bibles. I couldn’t even find the verse the preacher was preaching on, and quickly gave up so that I could listen to this sermon (this was way before phones).
People were welcoming, nice and happy to have me there, but I felt, well, broken. I was so aware of my own shortcomings, brokenness, and my dysfunctions.
Did I really belong? Was I good enough for this?
And the answer is yes!
You are Good Enough!
When you are aware of your own shortcomings, your brokenness, it means you are aware of your need for Jesus.
You might see yourself as less than, or not good enough, but God says you are just the one I am looking for.
In mark 2:17 Jesus says, “Those who are well, have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (NKJV).
It is those who realize their need for Him whose lives He will change and heal.
What I Learned
I recently finished writing a Bible study through the book of Mark, and it’ll be coming out very soon, but what I really noticed while writing this Bible study is the people who realized their need for Jesus are the people whose lives He changed.
The ones who were offended at Him or who thought they had it all together, those are the ones who He had to leave without doing any work in their lives.
You Know You Need Him
So dear sister, it is when you know that you are fallible, when you know that you are struggling and when you call out to Jesus, that is when He can come in and change your life.
I want to talk about some people that God used, people that other people would not have chosen.
David
In 1 Samuel, we read about David.
He was seen as the least of the least and wasn’t even called out from the fields by his own father. His family defined him as not good enough.
When Samuel asked him to line up his sons for one to be chosen as king, he was not even called out of the fields to be lined up.
Gideon
In Judges, we read about Gideon, whose clan was the weakest and who was the least in his father’s house. He saw himself as not good enough. But the angel met him with the words “mighty man of valor.”
Paul
In the book of acts, Jesus showed himself to Saul, a persecutor of Christians and turned him into Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament that we have today.
It was when Saul realized who Jesus was and became aware of his own shortcomings that God could change him into Paul.
Realize Who You Are.
You are a daughter of the king of all Kings and Lord of all Lords.
John 1:12 says, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (KJV).
Dear sister, you have been given the right to become a child of God, because you believe in His name.
Meditate on that, memorize that, park on that verse until it becomes real to you.
Philippians 1:6 says Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (KJV).
So, dear sister, if you know that you are broken, if you’re struggling, if you have fear, if you have anxiety, if you have shame, you are just who God is looking for, because you realize your need for Him.
Come to Him Just as You Are
Come to Him just as you are. Cry out to Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart and life and do a healing work in you.
Surrender your heart, your life, and your very self to him. And then watch over time as He works in your life.
Ask Him to Speak to Your Heart
Ask Him to speak to you as you read His word.
Ask Him to speak to you when you pray.
And when you just think upon Him during the day,
ask the Lord to just speak to you and lead you and direct you and guide you into the way that He would have you go.
And dear sister, I’d like to leave you with this verse.
Isaiah 1:18
Dear sister, come to Jesus with those things that you are struggling with. Come to Jesus with the things you have been ashamed of or hiding from. He already knows about them, and He loves you anyway. He has not come to condemn you, but to heal your heart and your life.
Can I pray for you today?
Lord, where my sister in Christ feels that she is less than, or not good enough, where she has felt abandoned, unloved, or struggled with fear or shame… I pray that as she calls out to You, that You would meet her there in a big way.
Show her Father God, that she is just who You’ve been looking for, that she is a daughter of the King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords.
I pray that in the Spirit, You would dress her up and put earrings in her ears and a crown upon her head, that You would heal her from the inside out.
Father, as she spends time with You in prayer and in Your Word, and enters into a community of believers, that You would show her how very much she is loved. Show her that You chose her before the foundation of the world, and that she is a beautiful daughter of the king of all Kings.
Help her Father, to surrender her struggles into your hands and know that what You begin in her, You will finish. In Jesus mighty name, I pray. Amen.
Copyright Carolyn Rice 2022
Thank you! Exactly what I needed to hear today.
You’re so welcome!