The Great Reality Check

My whole life, I've wanted to belong. Belong to someone in a loving relationship, belong in a peer group, belong academically, etc. Maybe that's why I've spent so much of my adolescence and adulthood trying to be "good enough". That said, it's a bit ironic that the most important relationship and greatest love story I will ever have is the one where I don't have to be good enough. In fact, I will never be good enough.

Have you ever felt like you weren't enough? The world can wear us down and the enemy seizes upon those weaknesses and insecurities. He delights in reminding us of every flaw, every sin, and whispers to us of our worthlessness. Mixing truth with clever lies, the devil throws in our face just how unworthy we are. It hits us hard in our human pride; after all, it's natural to want to be perfect. Adam and Eve set us up for that unachievable goal way back in Genesis, and even though we shake our heads at their attempt to try and elevate themselves, thousands of years later, we're trying to do the same thing. And yet, it's devastating when we fall and fail.

Here's the reality check I recently gave myself: on my own, I'm not enough. None of us are. But isn't it an amazing coincidence that we serve a God who isn't interested in impossible perfection? I was thinking this morning how humbling and awe-inspiring it is that the God who so beautifully and impeccably created our intricate universe, also happens to be a God who loves broken people. It's a tremendous relief when you consider it; there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and nothing that can separate us from it. Our imperfections don't have to keep us from God; rather they should draw us nearer to Him. To depend and lean on Him in every situation.

It's even more incredible to think that we belong to this same God-- that He actually wants us, yearns for us, and waits patiently for us to admit our frailty and turn to Him. Every moment I've felt utterly alone, standing in the dark valley where long shadows obscure my path, my God was there, right beside me. And if His constant presence and sovereignty weren't enough, in His great mercy, he sent His son to walk alongside us.

We belong to an awesome, warrior God and are even invited to sit at His son's table, the Savior who defied death and freed us from the confines and condemnation of sin. We will never be enough for Him, but He is more than enough for all of us.

I'm a worrier by nature and sometimes the anxiety builds to the point where I feel myself buckling underneath its weight. If you're feeling afraid or uncertain or even unloved, take heart. I encourage you to read and remember the lyrics to "In Christ Alone" (below). There may be no such thing as earthly security, but we have a living hope in Christ Jesus, who is our eternal security and salvation.


There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand


"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:16-18)

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)