“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.”
-Jeremiah 1:5

If I’m being totally honest with you, I’ve been struggling a lot recently with feelings of inadequacy and struggles with my identity. And if I’m being honest with myself, these are feelings that I’ve really struggled with for a large portion of my life.

And the more that I share these feelings with some of my close friends and even some of my family members, I find that so many of us, if not ALL of us, struggle with these same feelings a lot. It’s just not necessarily something we openly talk about.

For many of us, we’re constantly trying to impress others and we’re constantly trying to be the best at everything. Whether it’s being the best parent, best spouse, best friend, best sister, best daughter, best brother, best son, best employee, best blogger, best writer, best this, best that…

And then we struggle to find our identity. Who are we? A wife? Mother? Sister? Father? Daughter? Employee? Blogger? Comedian? Writer? Etc. etc. etc. We’re constantly trying to figure out who we really are.

We’re always, maybe not even consciously, worried about whether or not we’re doing a good job… whether or not we’re “enough.” And again, if I’m being honest, I tend to get anxious about this stuff when I’m having an off day or I just feel like I’m not cut out for what’s in front of me.

I’ve been taking a lot of leaps of faith lately – in many areas of my life. Well, this past week, I had taken a small, albeit really uninteresting or important leap of faith, and I got shot down. The reply email I got was literally something to the effect of, “Well, right now, you’re just not good enough for us.”

And my spirit just felt crushed. It didn’t matter that what I was trying to do was REALLY not that serious or exciting… but those words are cutting. And immediately I shut down and just sort of fell into an immediate state of, “Well, AM I good enough?” 

That one instance was a microcosm of what I’ve been feeling and dealing with for YEARS. My goal is to always be GOOD ENOUGH. And for once my feelings of not being good enough were confirmed by a complete stranger.

Has this ever happened to you?!

Well, coincidentally the sermon at church the DAY before was on this EXACT topic. And after I marinated on those words, “You’re not good enough” – that Still Small voice said to me, “Did you hear NOTHING that I had to say to you yesterday? You ARE good enough. Like Jeremiah, before I knitted you in your mother’s womb, I KNEW you. I set you apart. You are good enough for me. You are MORE than enough for me, Molly. You are my daughter and I love you.” 

That message was all I needed to hear.

Like God told Jeremiah… He knew each and EVERY one of us before He even created us. Before each of us were born, God knew us, loved us, and set us APART. How amazing is that? God doesn’t care if we’re the best at this or the best at that, He just cares that you know that He loves you and in turn, He just waits for us to love him back. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. He is ALWAYS there… waiting patiently for us to come to Him.

I have GOT to stop trying to be good enough for everyone else and I NEED to remember that I am good enough for God. And THAT is all that matters.

So, Jeremiah 1:5 has been on replay in my head this week and every time I feel myself starting to feel frustrated, inadequate, and less than worthy, I realize that’s just the enemy, Satan, trying to tell me I’m not good enough. And then I hear His voice say to me, “I love you. You ARE good enough.” 

That’s the reminder I need to hear each and every day… and maybe some of you do, too.

Am I alone?