The other day as I was driving, I noticed a sign on the side of the road that said, “Note to self, You Are Enough.”  For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with feeling like I am NOT enough.  I’m smart, but not smart enough.  Pretty, but not pretty enough.   A good friend, but not good enough.  Good daughter, good wife,  good dancer, good mom, but not quite good enough.   The list could go on and on.  Ugh…Yuck..this is not ok!  This is not God’s heart or how He views me.  This is not how He wants me to feel.

No particular person or people in my life made me feel this way.  I have personal pain and areas of shame that contributed to my feelings of “Not good enough”  but really, it’s a lie I chose to believe starting at a very young age.   There’s also pride involved….

Two summers ago, I was crying out to God, asking him to deal with this area of my heart and heal me.   The women’s group at our church was doing a devotional book called “Freedom From Performing” by a gal named Becky Harling.  Even though I didn’t attend the group, I felt  led to get the book and do the study on my own.  I can honestly say, that this book brought about huge transformation and freedom in my life!   This book has 12 chapters.  At the end of each chapter there is a short devotional section with room to write down your thoughts and answers to the questions.  My book is filled with notes and reflections.  The Lord used this book to deal with my pride, my shame, and my need to please people.   He also spoke some very sweet things to me and showed me more about who I am,  and who He’s called me to be.

He has crowned me with the beauty of being enough!  I wrote this down at the end of chapter two.  I’m not a perfect (you fill in the blank) and that is ok.   I will not do everything without fault at all times and this is ok.  I can be naked before God without shame.  I am His and He made me.   I am fully known, loved, forgiven, empowered, and pursued by Him.   I still struggle with insecurity,  but now when I’m triggered, I recognize the ugly voice that says “You are Not Enough” and I tell it to go.  “I am crowned with the beauty of being enough.”  I ask my closest friends to pray for me, and we shove that lie out the door!

Being enough doesn’t mean we don’t get healthier, fitter, stronger, grow in our relationships, grow in kindness, etc…  We do grow, we do flourish, but we do it all under grace.  We get healthier, fitter, stronger, kinder, under the umbrella of God’s love, His acceptance, and His forgiveness.  We are not striving to please people.  We don’t say yes to people or things that beg for our time because we don’t want to disappoint.  We do what we do because of our relationship with Jesus and our intimacy with Him.  He shows us how to live!  Second Peter 1:3 says, “For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us!” 

You are enough.  You are enough for God.  You are enough for your husband, your children, your family, your friends, and your ministry.  Whether or not you hear this from others, this is the truth.   You are not perfect and that is ok.  Only Jesus is perfect.   You have what it takes to be the wife and mommy God calls you to be.  You are God’s child and He will equip you as you put Him first.

You don’t have to compare your body to other women’s bodies.  You don’t have to compare your boobs, your butt, your face,  your hair or whatever.   You have permission from the Father to stop comparing yourself.   You can and should take care of your body, but let those comparisons go.   I have stretch marks on my belly.  I’m not crazy about these marks, but I am learning to love them because they are the result of 6 pregnancies and 6 gifts from God.   You have permission from the Father to rejoice in the unique features of your body that make you, you.  You are uniquely beautiful.  How about we as women and daughters of the King be free to rejoice in our beauty acknowledging we are created by God and in the image of God!

You don’t have to compare your talents to others.   I have extremely talented sisters.   My sister Kaitlyn is a worship pastor with an incredible voice and leadership qualities.  My sister Hannah is skilled in leaps and turns that I’ve never been able to do.  She’s an encourager and very prophetic.  My sister in law Carrie is a nurse and does things I could never even imagine being able to do.  I rejoice over their talents, and I thank God for my own.  We are all different and we all have talents.   Find out what God has gifted you in and use that gift!

You don’t have to compare your house, your car, or other “things” to what your friends have.   Be hospitable with what you have.  Be content and faithful with what you have.  Love with what you have.  I read about a lady who was so hospitable she had people in her home all of the time.  She started out in a small apartment, then God provided a bigger home again and again as they were hospitable and acknowledged that all they had belonged to the Lord.

You are enough!  Jesus loves you just as you are, and He will help you be all that He has called you to be.

If you struggle with insecurity, shame, or feelings of not being enough, I encourage you to read Freedom From Performing: Grace In An Applause-Driven World.

I also encourage you to watch Who You Are – A Message to Women

YOU ARE ENOUGH!  

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