When a Follower of Christ Feels, “ I Am Not Enough”
The situations that God Almighty may place before His children can at times appear daunting. Nevertheless, it is important for a child of God to understand that God will never call him to anything for which He will not also provide the grace to accomplish (Psalm 23:1; Philippians 4:19; Genesis 22:14). What I have learned is that when we, as God’s children, are faced with circumstances to navigate or tasks to fulfill, we are not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), but rather to trust the Lord with all our heart. We must trust that the God who calls us to a task will faithfully supply what is needed as we abide in Him (John 15:5).
Believers are often confronted with situations that appear overwhelming, eliciting various attitudes or emotions. Consider, for example, a scenario in which a believer looks at what he must face and says, “This is too much for me. I can’t do this. I am not enough.”
What I have learned is that with God all things are possible for those who believe (Matthew 19:26; John 11:40). A situation placed before us may contain possibilities, developments, or transformations that, as finite human beings, we cannot foresee. A circumstance may initially appear fixed, yet once we begin to engage it in faith, the potential outcomes can multiply in ways we never imagined. In God’s hands, any situation may unfold into possibilities far beyond our anticipation.
Therefore, the lesson we must draw from this is that when God brings situations into our lives, we are to trust Him regardless of how complex or impossible they seem, and obey Him one step at a time. We must avoid the danger of trying to determine the outcome in advance—because more often than not, we cannot—and also avoid the danger of giving up. Instead, we must call on God in difficult circumstances, trust Him, and wait upon Him. As we do so, He will open our eyes and minds to the multitude of possibilities that may arise from that initial situation—possibilities we could never have anticipated.
As believers, we must adopt the mindset that although a situation may appear daunting to us, it is not ultimately about us; it is always about God and what He is doing. We are to commit all things to Him and trust Him, for He can resolve any matter by many means as He wills. His understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28), and Christ is the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Furthermore, whatever takes an ultimate or higher place in any part of our lives above God becomes an idol. Therefore, when believers allow the mindset of “I am not enough” to prevent them from walking in the good works God has prepared for them, that very mindset has become an idol, because it has the final word instead of God. Note also that God does not always call believers into situations of comfort. This means that we must often leave our comfort zone and step in faith into what God is calling us to. Consequently, comfort itself can become an idol in a believer’s life. God does not require us to be comfortable; He requires us to have faith in Him, trust Him, and step forward with Him into the multitude of possibilities within a situation—so that He may show us that while we indeed are not enough on our own, with Him we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). Who, then, are we to deny what the Lord can do? (Jeremiah 32:27). We may clearly see that the idol of “I am not enough” often walks closely with the idol of comfort.
My prayer is that God Almighty would grant to all who read this the grace to better understand His ways and to resist the idols of comfort and of “I am not enough,” by His grace, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.