YOU ARE ENOUGH

I’m going to ask you two questions. 

How many of you will be honest and say that you sometimes feel like you’re not good enough? I’ll be first to admit, I feel that way sometimes. 

In one word, When you think about yourself, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Again for me, I would say that I’m insecure sometimes.

For a lot of people it’s usually not something that’s good. Maybe it’s insecure, not confident , flawed, how we look, our weakness, not smart enough or wise enough.

Did you know that Moses ,Gideon and Jeremiah thought the same thing? 

MOSES-

God had a plan for Moses. He wanted Moses to help led his people out of Egypt. Pharaoh has been abusing the Hebrew people and made them slaves and building these huge idols and many things for him (Im sure you all have seen the movie – The 10 Commandments). The life of a slave was brutal. The Hebrew people were in bondage for years and they cried out to God to save them. So that’s where Moses comes in. God is speaking to Moses through the burning bush and asking him to help his people. Let’s start in Exocus 3:11-14. 

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:11-14 NIV

Noticed in this verse Moses says, “who am I that I should go to Pharaoh,”  Moses didn’t think he was good enough to do this and I’m sure he a little afraid of Pharaoh as well. He did escape Egypt. But God has answer each time. God keeps reminding him “I am” , “ I will be with you” 

even after that Moses continues to make excuses. 

“Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” Exodus 4:1-5 NIV

Again here, Moses was like well what if they don’t believe me, and God showed him what he can do. God has an answer for each one. Let’s get into last one. Exodus 4:10-17

“Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” Exodus 4:10-17 NIV

Moses did it again. I’m not good enough! I can’t do this! No one will believe me ! Please send someone else , dont use me! 

What did God do? At first he was angry, but that’s understandable. All throughout the conversation, Didn’t God have an answer for everything?; but yet Moses continues to doubt it all and even himself.  God said ok, your brother can speak for you and I will help both of you through this. They will not be alone on this journey. 

“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15 NIV

 GIDEON-

““Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Judges 6:13-16 NIV

Gideon thinks he’s not strong enough. He thinks he and his family is the weakest and he’s thinks hes the least weakest among them. Despite what Gideon thinks, God sees something else. God knows he can do it, because he will be there with him and help him kill the midianites people.

JEREMIAH-

“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.” Jeremiah 1:4-9 NIV

Jeremiah thinks he’s too young to be a prophet but God didn’t think so. He told him he would help him and guide him through all of this. 

So  what does these 3 men have in common? Moses thinks he can’t speak well enough, Gideon thinks he’s the weakest and Jeremiah thinks he’s too young so basically. So, they all  don’t think they are good enough at what God is asking them to do. 

Like many of you, (at time) I know exactly how they feel.

I’ve mentioned back in one of my devotion that I am deaf and have been deaf my whole life. For those you that didn’t read that devotion , let me give you a little bit of my background story. I grew up wearing hearing aid in my left ear. I can’t hear anything out of my right ear so hearing aid wasn’t a possibly there. So keep in mind I can only hear 30 percent with the hearing aid on. So from the time I was 5 years old till I was 37 I worn hearing aid. When I was 37 years old I received cochlear implant and can hear around 90 percent. 

Now I want to go back to the part where I was wearing hearing aid. I was struggling a lot especially when it started in elementary school. Since I couldn’t hear very well, I mispronounced things a lot and I know I still do sometimes.  Some of the kids in elementary used to make fun of me all the time. I didn’t really have any friends and most kids didn’t understand how to even try to communicate with me. I didn’t have an interpreter then. So you can understand how all of this would make me insecure because I was always worried about mispronunciating my words correctly or maybe having a conversation with someone and I totally misunderstood what they said . It becomes embarrassing. 

However from middle school through high school I’ve joined the deaf school and obviously the communication with sign language is so much better and easier for me. 

Anyway the point I’m trying to say is this, from the entire time I worn hearing aid , it made me insecure and think I’m not good enough. It made me hate myself at times. There’s time I would just avoid being around people so I dont have to worry about embarrassing myself . It wasn’t just around friends but some family members  too. This didn’t just happen when I was in elementary but all through my adult years till I had cochlear implant.  I remember thinking why am I here? 

However in spite of me thinking that I’m flawed and not good enough, God had a plan for me from the very start and I didn’t understand it at the time. That goes the same for Moses ,Gideon and Jeremiah and for you too. God had a plan for them from the start as well. 

There’s a reason this verse exist. 

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

We will not always understand the plans the Lord has for us. However he is asking us to trust him completely and he will guide us in the right path. That’s kinda hard for some people simply becuase of our background of what we went through. That doesn’t define us though. Our choices in the past or things we went through doesn’t define us of who we are  or who God wants us to be.  Yes we all have lessons or trials we went through but that should help us to want to be even more better. 

Did you know we are God’s handiwork?  I want to read this verse. In Ephesians 2:10 says , we are God’s handiwork 

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”Ephesians 2:10 NIV

God has a plan for each one of us. Jesus died on that cross so that we may be forgiven and have clean slate to do what God has prepared for us. 

Since I gave you little bit of why I was insecure and let my deafness be an excuse , God showed it to me differently. He told me I can do anything through him and that being deaf shouldn’t stop me from what he has prepared for me. 

I want to share with you what one of his plan was for me.

I remember when I was at Clearview Baptist ,  I remember thinking it would be cool to do the ladies ministry ( my heart yearns for it)  but I was afraid to. I remember thinking what if I can’t communicate back with them? What if it requires a lot of listening and hearing? What if I can’t understand someone, what if I mis-pronounce words and make a fool of myself in front of everyone?  So I dismissed the thought of wanting to lead a ladies ministry and though that wasn’t gonna happen. So one day I overheard the Pastor and his wife mentioned about needing to start a ladies ministry but they have so much on their hands (this was the first year that church started) I then felt like God was telling me to tell them you will do it. I remember thinking they are gonna be like well you can’t hear ( kinda like when Moses said well I can’t really speak that great) I was making excuses just like him. So I felt God was pushing me again and said trust me. So I finally spoke up and said I’ll do it. They were so happy and said that be great. So I’ve taught and led the ladies ministry there for 20 years and here I am at Faith Church  doing this again. I love doing it! 

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

So as the result, Moses did led the people out of Egypt and Gideon and 300 men did killed all those midianites. Jeremiah continued to be a prophet for over 40 years and did what God asked him to say ,and I was able to lead the ladies ministry for 20 plus years. All of us had God as he promised,  who was with us from the very beginning. He already knew all these plans before we all were even born. 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5 NIV

Conclusion-

You are enough. You are never alone. You are beautiful. You are God’s beautiful  masterpiece. He loves you. He is the  “I Am” he will be there for you and me. He will help you speak, he will comfort you when you are uncomfortable and he will give you strength when you are weak. He will give you peace when you are fearful. 

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14 

What is God calling you to do today? Where do you feel you’re not enough? You and I are put here for a reason. What is that reason? Only you would know that. Seek him and let him show you the plans he has for you. Be prepared to do what God called you to be here for. It’s never too late. You’re not too young or too old. No excuses. Remember , you are more than enough!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Praying for you today!