I prefer to stay with the safe, non-personal topics, but every now and again, I’m impressed to share my flaws and struggles with you. I would have preferred to tell you how I love the changing of the seasons, and how I love spring, but I guess that’s not the thought I am to share with you today. So instead, I want to tell you that “You are enough”.
Every now and again, I start thinking of whether my writing is good enough, and what am I really doing by sharing my lessons on my faith journey with you. When those thoughts come, I try to quickly squelch them. Other times, I hear a whisper in my heart “This is not about you”. I am learning that my role is to be obedient, so while I don’t necessarily understand what God is doing by using me to write words to share with those who will read them; my job is to keep writing. I have rationalized that even if one person reads it and is blessed, then I have done what God has called me to do.
I woke up this morning, after trying to force a topic of “changing seasons” where the thoughts just would not come. I decided to remind God of our agreement for me to share three thoughts per week. Yes, He has provided three thoughts each week. Almost as soon as I was done saying that, my thoughts shifted to my morning devotion entitled “Her Success Doesn’t Threaten Mine”, and I started thinking about a conversation I had with a friend and how a colleague had stolen her idea and tried to make it her own. She shared that with me in the morning, and as soon as I got to work, something similar, although not as extreme happened to me.
Do I wonder what God is doing by choosing to use me and that I am not good enough for this writing thing? Absolutely. Do I experience jealousy at others getting what I want even though I’ve been waiting longer? Sometimes. But my heart quickly changes, and I remind myself that my journey is different than others. One of the things I have learnt over the years is that I may not necessarily be willing to make the sacrifices that others are willing to make to get to a particular destination – but that’s a personal choice, so I can’t be jealous.
Please do me a huge favor: do not ever allow someone else’s lack of appreciation for you and your abilities lead you to believe that you are not good enough. Not everyone will be able to appreciate you for who you are. That’s their issue – not yours. When God created you, He planned carefully for you. He reminded you and me in Jeremiah 1:5a “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”. God has chosen you. Don’t let anyone make you feel “less than”, as you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalms 139a.
Dear Lord, there will be people in our lives who will try to make us feel as if we are not good enough. When these people start and these negative thoughts start to permeate our thinking, please whisper in our hearts that we are made by you, and that we are good enough, and we can do all things through you, who strengthen us.