When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough

When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough

Renee Swope

I had that awful feeling of not being enough … not smart enough, not good enough. For weeks, I felt inadequate in every way—from the way I parented, to the way I served God in ministry, to the way I organized my time.

One afternoon as I was putting on makeup, I noticed how the bathroom light threw a huge shadow on the wall behind me. As I stood there looking at the shadow, it dawned on me: All of my insecurities were creating a huge shadow over my soul—a shadow of doubt.

That day, I came to two important realizations. First, I was the one creating the shadow by blocking the light. And second, I could only see the shadow when I turned away from the light.

Shadows are created all around us when something blocks light, and so it is with the shadow of doubt. When we focus our thoughts on ourselves— how inadequate we feel, or what others think about us, or how we’re performing—we cast a shadow of doubt by blocking the light of God’s truth. But we were not designed to block the light. We were created to live in the light by focusing on what God thinks about us instead of what we think about ourselves.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). When we follow Jesus closely and focus our thoughts on Him, we can live beyond the shadow of our doubts and find lasting confidence in Him.

That afternoon, I realized I had to purposefully shift my focus from my feelings of inadequacy to God’s promises of His sufficiency and grace in my life. I had to choose to focus on truth (the light of Christ) so I could exchange my feelings of low self-confidence for lasting soul-confidence.

The next time you feel your heart dwelling in the shadow of self-doubt, ask God to help you turn toward the light of Christ as you focus your thoughts on His truths about you.

When you feel inadequate, God says, You are chosen: “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he’” (Isaiah 43:10).

When you feel unstable, God says, You are able: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19).

When you feel unworthy, God says, You are precious and loved: “You are precious and honored in my sight, and … I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).

Dear Lord, help me to live beyond the shadows of my doubts as I follow and focus on the light of Your truth today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

REMEMBER

When you feel inadequate, God says, “You are chosen.” When you feel unstable, God says, “You are able.” When you feel unworthy, God says, “You are precious and loved.”

REFLECT

What are your most common thoughts of self-doubt? How do they make you feel? Inadequate? Uncertain? Indecisive?

RESPOND

Write your self-doubts in pencil on a white piece of paper. Then write, “I am chosen, I am able, I am precious and loved,” in dark marker over them. Hold the paper up to the light and see how the bold words overshadow the penciled words. Let this serve as a visual reminder of how God’s truths overshadow your self-doubts.

POWER VERSES

Romans 8:6; John 1:4