I went to bed last night knowing what my topic was going to be for today’s thought. This topic has been sitting in my notes with just a topic and without having any material to support it, but God must know that someone (including myself) needs to hear it, because it’s 4:45 on a Sunday morning, and I’ve been given the scripture that goes with it. When I ‘randomly’ opened my devotional this morning, it opened to Psalm 139:13-14 NIV, which says, ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ What a reminder!
Too many times we go through life wondering, ‘am I good enough?’ You can complete the sentence of what you ask yourself if you are good enough for. A very difficult one is.. am I good enough to be truly loved? Far too often, we grow up where we are not given the emotional and mental support that we need, and as a result we grow up with the concept that we are not good enough.
While this topic has been on my heart to write, I didn’t know how it would come together. I usually cannot see how a thought will end when I start writing. Wait.. That sounds very familiar. God has had to tell me many times lately, that I just have to trust Him. I want to see how things will start, how the middle will work and how it all ends. We all know that’s not how life works, so we just have to sit still while He works and for us to be patient.
Yet again, I digress. But you get that point. Sit still and know that He’s God and He’s doing the work that you cannot do yourself.
Back to my thought. Last night as I was watching a movie with my daughter called ‘Everybody’s Hero’, this little boy, around 10 years old, ‘Yankee’ wanted to play baseball so badly, but he was awful at it, or so it seemed. He was always the last to be chosen for the neighborhood games. He was so bad, that the team would tell him not to swing. But his thought was, how can I hit the ball if I don’t even swing? There ended up being a series of events that landed him on the plate at a World Series game with Babe Ruth. Team morale was down and they didn’t have much else to lose, so Babe suggested Yankee to hit the ball. After all, this 10 year old had just traveled by himself from New York to Chicago to return his personal bat. Give him a shot. The first thing on everyone’s lips was, who’s this little kid. For the kids who Yankee had played with, they thought they knew for sure that Yankee would strike out. He didn’t. He went on to making a home run, after hitting the ball, which couldn’t have happened if he didn’t swing.
Are you good enough? Who are you listening to that tells you that you are not good enough for whatever task is on hand? Who has told you for a long time that you are not good enough? The passage tells us that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. But it’s only when you start believing in yourself and surrounding yourself with people who encourage and motivate you that you will realize just how wonderfully you have been made by God.
Heavenly Father, when self doubt and self loathing sets in, help us to remember that you formed us with your own hands. You breathed life into our nostrils Lord. Help us to remember just how wonderful you have made us. Help us to surround ourselves with people who will continually lift us up with encouragement and not to tear us down with their negative words. Thank you.
