Not Good Enough
By Robin Jones
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
Paralyzed with fear, I lay in the dark crying and whining and carrying on.
I implored myself, “Robin get up. Get to work. You can’t let one more day go by without working on it. Get it out of your head and onto paper.”
Not-Good-Enough, my own personal demon ran me. “You can’t do this. It’s not going to be good. You have waited too long. Any effort you make is useless.” The lie ruled my actions.
The more I fought myself, the more immobile I was. Time ticked by. The deadline drew closer. Zero progress made.
Lost, alone and unable to do it on my own, I prayed.
A wee bit of light peeked through the dark clouds in my head. Verses surged up from the depth of my memory bank. “…take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” “…With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” “…triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb”
Decisively, the Good Shepherd slayed the lie of Not-Good-Enough with His rod. Gently, He re-directed my thoughts with His crook. He guided my attention away from my inconsistent, imperfect ability to His absolute, perfect ability.
In my pursuit of perfection, I lost sight of the Perfect One.
Losing sight of Jesus’ work on the cross is when the lie of Not-Good Enough takes over.
Jesus isn’t asking us to be perfect or good enough. In fact, that is the reason He came because we can’t ever be perfect or good enough.
Not-Good-Enough keeps us from starting or encourages us to give up completely.
Grasp onto the fact that Jesus has overcome the world!
Wrap your mind around this… If you are in Christ, you are not a failure; you are an overcomer!
God’s Word is the Good Shepherd’s rod that demolishes the lies that you run on yourself. It is also the crook that guides you to the next steps in your impossible situation.
God used His rod as a reminder to make every thought obedient to Christ. That meant I needed to slow down and really focus on what I was listening to. At that point, I was able to discern truth from lie.
I could then look to Jesus who wouldn’t fail and was absolutely able. It also helped me remember who I am in Christ… an overcomer. I was able to stop the drive for perfection, trust God with all of the details, and then get on with it.
You try it:
- Acknowledge to yourself your predicament.
- Cry out to God and ask for His help.
- Listen for your answer. (Hint…look for the next encouraging words from Scripture that you see, hear, or remember.)
- Apply the Word you receive to your situation.
Lord, thank You for who You are… Perfect, Spotless, Blameless One. Thank You for Your complete work on the cross that makes us complete. Through the blood of the Lamb, we are overcomers. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Be encouraged by:
Overcomer by Mandisa
Overcome by Jeremy Camp
© 2020 by Robin Jones. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Thursday, 09 July 2020.
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