Good Enough
Am I good enough? Can God really use me? Even in all my flaws and failures? The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10 (ESV), as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one.” The Bible also tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:5 (ESV), Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. Now that we have established that none of us are truly good enough, let’s look at what God says about us.
In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” In verse 31 it says, And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. According to God, we are created in His image and we are very good! You are very good! This shows us that instead of believing what the world says (that we are useless or ugly or worthless), that we should instead believe what God says about us.
· We are very good
· We are more precious than rubies
· We are created with purpose
· We are the bride of Christ
· We are forgiven
· We are loved
· We are redeemed
Let us look at another scripture. 2 Corinthians 12:5 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The weaknesses you see in yourself, the weaknesses that make you feel incapable or unusable, God will use for His strength, for His purpose. God wants to use you, an ordinary individual, with weaknesses, to do extraordinary things! When we doubt ourselves, we really doubt God. It was God who knit us together in our mother’s womb. It was God who created us to do good things which He prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 3:20 says, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. The power that works within us!
That power is the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us in John 16, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you. On the day of Pentecost, there were a group of men gathered together that received the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:17-21 (NKJV) says, ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’
By receiving the Holy Spirit, we are able to receive revelation and understanding of God’s word, of God’s heart. He helps us to understand more about God and the plans and purpose for our future, the good works that He has had planned for us to do long ago. In Jeremiah 29:11 God promises us a hope and a future. In Deuteronomy 31:8 the Lord promises to never leave us or forsake us, it is Him that goes before us. Can we be used by God? Of course! Even in our shortcomings and failures and flaws. When we look at David, he committed adultery and murder…but he was known as a man after God’s own heart. God loved him and considered him to be the apple of His eye. Without David, there would never have been Solomon, who built the temple…or even further down the road, there would not have been Jesus, our Lord and Savior! God still called David friend. God still calls you friend.
What it boils down to is this. Will you trust the Lord? Will you trust Him in all your ways? Will you lean on Him and not your own understanding? Will you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior? Will you receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit? If you answered yes, then He will guide your path. Man plans his ways but the Lord directs his steps. Are you ready to live a life worthy to what you’ve been called?
© 2022 Leslie Wittenmyer—All rights reserved