Good Enough???

Sorry it's been a while, but life has a way of consuming ones time and energy... So today I was asked to visit someone from our church who lives quite a bit away. Not too far, but enough of a drive to warrant some traveling music.

As I was driving back from my visit, a song came on that struck a deep chord with me. As a matter of fact, it's one of my favorites performed by Casting Crowns called "Voice of Truth". If you've never heard it, I highly recommend you take a listen...

You know, it would be SOOOO much easier if God would just tell me "Hey, on Friday at (insert time here), I'm gonna reach down and drop a revelation on you", just so I wouldn't be driving someplace or in the middle of something. But that's not how God works, is it? You see, for years I've struggled with being good enough. Good enough of a son; good enough of a husband; good enough of a father; good enough of an employee; good enough of a human being.

I've tried my very best to be responsible, to work harder than anyone else and to set a high standard for myself and others around me. And even if all of the things I've done were done to perfection, I still never felt good enough. I'm my own worst critic. My own worst enemy. I don't think I was born this way? So why?

I can almost recall every time someone else made me feel or flat out told me I wasn't good enough. Maybe not in those exact words, but still the same meaning. Do we really understand how damaging we are to one another? James 3:1-12 talks specifically about controlling your tongue. It would be better to just haul off and punch someone than to verbally assault them. Not that I condone violence, but a physical wound will heal over time. The mental wounds can take forever.

But today, while driving down a back-highway in Missouri, that song came on. A song that any other time I would sing along with, belting it out loud, if not a little off key... but today was different. The song began to play, and about half-way through it something happened. Something I never expected. As I was singing, I began to break... my voice, my train of thought and my heart. You see, for too long I've tried to be the best. To be good enough for everyone else around me. To prove to the world that I was good enough. But in a matter of a few seconds, God softly and gently spoke to my heart, telling me He thought I was good enough, and that's all that mattered.

So here I was, driving 60 mph with tears streaming down my face as I continued to listen to the song play, trying to decide if I needed to pull off the road or not. I kept driving, but for the next few minutes God reminded me that He thinks we are ALL good enough, otherwise sending His son to die on the cross was for nothing. He didn't do it for just a few of us that work hard enough. Not for those who give the most money. Not just for the ones who pray the most. Not even for those who invite the most friends to church and "get them saved". But for all of us. We're all good enough. And all it requires of us is this: to have faith and believe.

Faith in a creator who loves me enough that when I make mistakes, if I ask for forgiveness and truly mean it, He is willing to forgive me. Belief that Jesus Christ came down to this earth, giving up everything He had, to live a life just like me. For him to be beaten and punished and die on the cross so that all of the world would see that God thought we were good enough; that He would sacrifice it all just so we could always be close to Him.

I have to admit that as I've been writing this blog today, I have upon several occasions become teary-eyed. Not because of sorrow, but because of the great joy I feel in understanding that I no longer have to be bound by past hurts. That I have been set free by my faith and belief in the only one who makes a difference in my life. The only one who I need approval from. So let me close with this... Who have you told today that they are good enough?

Blessings,

Pastor Brian