Have you ever gotten that awful pit-in-your-stomach feeling after finding out you let someone down?
It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me as I read through an email from a client, sent to my manager and forwarded to me, describing how I had let some details fall through the cracks on a project.
A horrible sense of discouragement and embarrassment moved in for the kill.
In the past, I would have welcomed my uninvited critical thoughts to stay a while, resigned to the fact that I must be unable to do anything right!
But not this time; too many hurtful experiences had taught me to recognize failure as an opportune time for my opponent, the devil, to devour me with feelings of inadequacy and shame. This enemy is bent on making me believe that when my best isn’t good enough, I’m not good enough.
Fortunately, times of pain have also included hours of poring over God’s promises, gathering wisdom to deal with this unwelcome intruder. I have learned to be alert to the devil’s schemes and ready to stand against them. In 1 Peter 5:8-9, Peter tells us how:
“Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour. Be firm in the faith and resist him, knowing that other believers throughout the world are going through the same kind of suffering” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
After reading the email and letting my thoughts run wild for a few minutes, I knew I had to clear my mind. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me un-clutter my thoughts with the clarity of truth from logistical, circumstantial and spiritual points of view….
Read the rest of this story and what happened in my Encouragement for Today on the Proverbs 31 Ministries blog. But BEFORE YOU go…
ENTER to WIN a Fall Book-Bundle
I’m giving away 3 Fall Book-Bundles
including my Confident Heart Devotional and Lysa TerKeurst’ new best-selling
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plus a fall-scented candle from Bath & Body Works!
How to ENTER: She your thoughts about today’s devotion OR how you’ve walked through needing to remember your best is in good enough in God’s eyes even when it’s not good enough in the eyes of others.
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Happy Fall Ya’ll!
I’m a perfectionist – which often means I’m incredibly hard on myself… But the devotional reminded me that God doesn’t expect perfection – He simply expects me to do my best…
A few tears ago my professionalism and integrity were being questioned by my supervisor. I felt that everything I did was wrong and every time she walked in the room, I wondered “what have I done wrong now?” . I kept reading the Psalms and speaking the Word. I would testify about how God is my strength and my fortress. How He would turn this into good. Today, my supervisor and I are on very good terms.
Wonderful devotion to be reading especially right after a bad breakup. Thank you so much for this, Renee! I needed it today for sure. Most of the time I feel inadequate, and I definitely did in my ex’s eyes. Thanks again for the reminder that God loves us just as we are.
I often feel like I don’t measure up. Thank you for this devotional letting me see that in God’s eyes I’m OK!!!
For a while I believe what people were saying about me. I got to a very dark place. Finally, I realized I am a good person and am not who those people said I was. I was right in His eyes and that was all that mattered. I am in a happy place now not accepting who others say I am, but resting in the fact that I am His and that’s all that matters.
Often while coaching mens gymnastics, I feel and hear how inadequate I am because, I am a WOMAN! Even though my teams have been State Champions 3 years in a row and being the only woman coach often on the floor at a meet, you’re not good enough creeps into my heart and thoughts. When these thoughts from satan creep in I have to step back and remember the verse I taught the boys on the teams when they are struggling. Phillipians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 10 fingers is our team motto this is what my boys chant at a meet when a teammate is struggling or has fear. When I hearbthese words from these young men, I GET IT…..who cares if I am a woman and j didn’t do mens gymnastics, these boys are going to be well rounded knowing Gid loves them and they can do anything!!!
This is a great reminder of how the enemy is always prowling and attacking at our weak moments. When I feel I am not good enough or smart enough, I need to remember that I am in Gods eyes because He created me. I need to be prayerful in times of weakness and remember that Gods strength will overcome the enemy.
All of my life, I have felt like I was never good enough. I worked a job where everyone else has a college degree or some training for that particular job. I did that job but made less money. I have gotten myself in so many difficulties trying to please people, so I could be accepted. In the past few years, I have truly learned that it has all been for a purpose. God has allowed me to understand that He defines who I am, nobody else. Everyday is not not perfect even now, but God is in control and I pray more than ever and I know He has a purpose and a plan.
This is maybe one of my biggest struggles. Being a people pleaser is sometimes a down right curse! Especially since I am bound to feel inadequate in my trying a lot of the time. LIving with a perfectionist makes it all the more difficult as I am not one. I am working on finding my worth in God and knowing that he is pleased with me when the world often is not. Thank you for your insightful and sweet words!
I am still in the midst of learning this lesson. My Pastor shared this thought with us, “when you take even just a minute to let the negative thoughts, anger etc… you are giving those few minutes over to the enemy’ meaning, that even for those few minutes, you are serving the enemy, and not God”. That really hit me. I don’t want to give over even a second to the enemy. So, when the depression, or anger start to creep in, I remind myself about who I am in Christ, and that I have authority over those things. Thank you for sharing this, I really needed the reminder this morning. I will praise Him, no matter what the enemy throws at me today!
I am the kind of person that definitely needs these fantastic reminders. I have given God full control of my life, but sometimes I get a little off track. I love that I live in Charlotte, NC – where we have lots of fantastic churches, and ministries such as Proverbs 31. <3
I enjoy reading religious books.
God has brought me through the pain of abuse and trauma. This journey of recovery has led me to cling to Him in desperation realizing that He is the breath I need to maintain my focus on the goal where God is beckoning me forward. I enjoyed your devotional as I have let my children down in my woundedness and this is now a deep regret in my soul. I have had the opportunity to rebuild a relationship and am encouraged that God has provided me with His grace, mercy, and love allowing this healing. There are days that I struggle with guilt/shame over decisions I made in the past and the consequences I see lived out in my children. This is a deep ache and a general attacking point of Satan in his goal to shift my focus from God to myself. I lose momentum at this point, remaining stuck in the path…BUT GOD…He always provides a way out. I am continually reminded of His power and the need for me to remain plugged into my POWER SOURCE. I am eternally grateful for the intimacy with God which was forged through my journey of pain. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful tool of God. You have spoken to my heart many days through your devotionals and books.
Renee, Thank you for this timely reminder. It has helped me to see things differently. I don’t need to wallow in guilt and shame or get defensive. I can ask Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and go to the Word for nuggets of Truth to comfort, strengthen, and sustain me. While my best may not always measure up to others’ expectations, I rejoice in Jesus my Savior whose blood is sufficient to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. My beloved is mine and I am His.
I have really high standards for myself and I make it hard to” be good enough”……. thank you for your thoughts today, inspiring me to get a new perspective and allow God’s view of who I am shine through : ) I am a righteous woman of God. ..a daughter of the King!!!! Amen!
I dislike disappointing others and struggle with pleasing others and fear of rejection. I remember as a 10 year old girl, “my parents would not be divorcing if only I had been a better girl”! God’s promises are essential to reminding me who am I am! Thanks for your words of grace!
I work as a library assistant at an elementary school that has a large ELL population (almost 40%) as well as having a low-poverty population. I have to remember when the children don’t respond the way I need them to that it isn’t about me, it is the choice that they make. I am still good enough even when I feel a bit beat down.
It was like a slap in the face to me because I just let my husband down and keep feeling guilty. It just reminded me that God is in control and to not let the devil have control.
This summer has been a summer of “not good enough”s for our family. We have had one trial after another since June. I finally came to terms with everything that was happening in the last two weeks; realizing that GOD is in control and I need to “let go and let God”. I thought that I had failed my family for all the issues but then I realized that they (my children) were grown adults and I had to “let go and let God” in their lives. The grandchildren are precious to me and I have to remember that they are especially precious to God. He will protect them! I am “good enough” for God! Thanks for this blog. 🙂
Today’s devotion was an excellent reminder of God’s love and grace. I feel that I constantly let people down as I try to balance working full time and a very active family. Thank you for speaking truth to me today.
I used to worry so much about what everyone else thought I should do until my husband left! Never, not one time, did The Lord press on my heart the need for me to divorce! Could I, should I in everyone else’s eyes, YES! And thru this heart break, I learned to stop listening to what others thought was best for me and listen to my Father! He worked it all out in His time and by His grace, my husband and I have reconciled and are so much better on this side of our journey! Wow, what we would of missed if I had listened to everyone else! Thanks so much for your encouraging words.
What a wonderful way to take your thoughts captive! I’m struggling with depression in a way that hasn’t happened in over a decade. So much of winning against depression is taking your thoughts from the enemy & giving them to God. I will be writing these steps on my daily calendar to help change my thoughts & form new thought habits. Thank you for sharing!
I am up at 3 a.m. feeling broken and hurt. Much of what you have said hits home. In so many ways I don’t know who I am anymore. Hurt has a way of doing that to us.
I needed this today. I am always stuck on how I am not good enough. Now, I know I can totally change that way of thinking!
So encouraging-thanks for sharing! I always struggle with feeling like I’m not enough whenever I try (and fail) to do too many things, but I need to remember that JESUS is enough even though I’m not. God is the one who works in me to get the work done as He sees fit and that’s easy to forget.
Renee, I was meant to see this,especially considering that it is 2:42 a.m. as I type and I have ice on my neck, trying to decide if I go to work today. I am a paraprofessional in a new harder position this year in a public school and have made mistakes. I am 61 and feel my memory is worse than usual lately and I have been feeling exactly what you say – not good enough. It is scary to admit and I am leaning heavily on God and thankful that HE gives me patience and even joy in difficult situations. Thank you so much for this timely devotion and the reminder to search scripture – you have picked some good ones.
Praying for you Patti!!
I woke up and could not sleep and searched for a devotional and found the one you wrote. Icould not sleep because I felt guilty about not being able to live up to al I felt I should be. The words you shared was exactly what I needed.
Thank you for your message here. Like many others who have shared already, I can relate this one. I love the application of making the lists. What a great prayer and processing step! Take the time and remember to ask the Holy Spirit to bring clarity of truth from logistical, circumstantial and spiritual points of view.
I am a fairly new Christian and sometimes still hear the enemy’s voice telling me I am not good enough for anything. Being in recovery for 27years has helped me ignore it but it still whispers and can be difficult to shake. Your books and posts make sure I remember how loved and cherished I am by God. Thank you.
I just read the devotional and it hit me like a rock. This was almost to the letter of what has been going on and around me in the last several weeks. Thank you so much really need to be reminded that I don’t have to try and handle everything, God can handle it for me.
It’s too often that I feel this way. No matter how hard I try not to focus on the issue on hand I end up feeling guilty. I spend way too much time in doing this. Thank you for the advice on how to handle our guilt
Awesome message, I am a perfectionist who always tries to do everything right, make the right choices, and meet others’ expectations. How lucky are we as Christians to know our very best is all He needs.
Thank you for helping us see more clearly that each experience we feel inadequate or unsuccessful in requires proper perspective. I, like many, tend to be far too hard on myself but thankfully have learned over time (with age!) that these perspectives are crucial to not allowing the devil his foothold in our lives. Praise God that he still loves us when we have little to give on those days!
I love the three ways to look at it: logistically, circumstantially, and spiritually. It really helps to put it all in perspective- HIS perspective! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway opportunity.
I often struggle (unrealistically) to do better than my best. I find a lot of days I feel that my best is nowhere near good enough. Praise God that He will always accept my best, even when I feel it’s not enough.
Right now I am struggling with my responsibilites as a wife, mother and nurse. Going back to school and working full time, plus I am trying to push myself out of bed earlier to work out in the mornings before work. I depend on my wonderful husband and my Lord and Saviour to help me through this. I am constantly praying for energy and endurance.
It always amazes me how faithful our God is! He always provides the words we need to hear right as we need them!
Doubting myself is something I struggle with in regards to work. It is so easy, when I make a mistake, to really beat myself up over it, and wonder why I can’t be perfect like some of the others I work with (even though I know they aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t help sometimes!). Been trying to remember to pray, and look at the big picture, and remember that one small mistake at work, doesn’t really make me a bad worker, and for sure doesn’t make me a bad wife, mom, or Christian! I just have to keep remembering that. 🙂
A wonderful devotional that really spoke to me and I’m sure many others. Satan makes me feel like a failure when I disappointment someone because of a schedule that becomes way too full when so many unplanned events like you mentioned arise. I love the practical advice you shared to counter satan’s attack.
Thank you so much for writing this devotional & for your transparency!!! I have been struggling with this for most of my whole life & was in the thick of negative thoughts regarding a situation at work again today. Thank you also for the practical advice of how to combat those thoughts. I have felt in a rut & also felt so alone in my struggle & never knew what to do. This is an answer to prayer!
We are way too hard on ourselves most of the time. Thank you for reminding me that my best is what God wants from me and that the devil wants us to be negative and unhappy so we can yield to him instead of God.
The Lord speaks to my exact problems every single day through the Agape Cafe devotional, and through 3 more, forwarded to me by friends. One is “Jesus Calling” , one is called the Agape Cafe, another from Iyanla Vazants daily “Todays Prayer” and the last is David Jeremiah’s daily devotional. I pray as soon as I get up in the morning, then read the devotionals, then the Bible. Sort of a routine for the day. Then I feel that I can go out and deal with people in the way the Lord would have me represent Him and be a light shining when others need help. I also pray to help, and never harm.
Two years ago I was awarded an early retirement that started my pension before I was old enough to collect or had put in enough years working at my current employer to collect my regular pension.
I had a nervous breakdown. A drug and alcohol abusing teenager, spinal cord problems and a very well paying though extremely toxic job. I prayed before then, mostly the “God help” prayer, went to church and read the Bible “when I had time.”
After all of the paperwork had completed, I realized what a blessing the nervous breakdowns were…God letting me know who was in control. And that I needed to stop relying on my own resources and plans, and follow His
plan, and to slow down and spend more time with Him.
Although I have very little income, I do have medical coverage and am free to spend my time being with Him and learning to depend on him. What a huge miracle. God truly uses all things to serve Him. And though they appear embarrassing and frustrating and sometimes scary, all things truly work for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
My prayers now include thanking Him for that experience and every single thing, good and bad that followed it. God blessed me with a burning desire to serve Him. And I pray only that I am healed enough to volunteer and give back what he has given me. I also pray a prayer that my pastor shared with the congregation a couple of weeks ago. “Lord, please help me to learn what I am supposed to learn, and change what I need to change, so that I never have to go through this pain (circumstace) again. The devotionals are vital to my life here on Earth. Thank you for writing devotionals. I discovered the root of my fear and anxiety just a few weeks ago, during meditation. I was taught at some point that “I am not enough” and have internalized it and believe it and consequently overcompensate by expending emotional and spiritual resources that have been “running on empty for years.
As a teacher sometimes it is hard to meet eveyone’s expectations. I need to inspire my students, deal with parents and complete tasks for the principal. I often feel that I am not enough. I remind myself that God will give me the strength to do what he wants me to and let some of the rest go.
God is always helping me with this & I’m always in progress. I would love to win a “book bundle” to brighten up my least favorite season.
“Although I had done the best I could, my best wasn’t good enough. But it didn’t mean I wasn’t good enough. It just meant I needed to make some truth-filled assessments and wisdom-based adjustments!” <— So powerful! Thank you!
So weird there is a “Dawn M” above with my same problem! (My middle name is Marie) I swear this is not a duplicate entry, lol. I too have been having issues with my adult daughter. I left an emotionally abusive marriage with her father but unfortunately I find her repeating the very criticisms her father has always accused me of (not working hard enough, never being “enough” in so many areas…looks, work, making dinner, etc.) I have tried so hard to separate myself from those criticisms that were ingrained in me, but as I battle a very serious chronic illness, she is throwing those judgements back at me…I would be fine if I just try harder, I could work outside the home if I really wanted to, I am just lazy at heart, etc. I am getting better at realizing these issues are not a reflection of me but more of a distraction for her from her own issues and inner turmoil. But it still hurts so deeply as I sit in my hospital bed writing this, battling serious, life I threatening issues (crisis level blood pressure and heart rate swings, DVT blood clot, etc.), it breaks my heart that she is too busy judging me and trying to deny the severity of my health problems that she won’t ever visit me or help me in any way. I am anxious to read this book (and the others in the bundle) to help me a see myself through God’s eyes instead and shield myself from the hurt and trauma that comes back when I hear these criticisms. This devotion came at the perfect time as all of this came to a head today. I know it was no accident. Thank you for the encouragement and for the giveaway!
I think as a mom, I am constantly doubting myself. Especially with the age of the internet and all those “super mom” blogs out there. I am having a hard time with my daughter right now, and it makes me feel like a failure as a mom. Like I let her down and God down. He gave me her to raise and I feel I am not doing great at it. But then I remember and pray through the confusion. Thanks for that reminder. I have to remember how much the devil loves to see us breakdown. He fuels our emotions with a great joy. I just remember, I am not alone!!
It’s good a good reminder that we are all human and therefore we make mistakes. You just need to remember to lean on God for support and to learn from your mistakes.
I am so excited that I can read testomy’s on God wonderful story that we live daily.
I looking forward for encourgement thru his word and people around us.
I am so grateful for his grace and mercy everywhere I go as he open our spiritual eyes.
God is Good!!
I gave my Confident Heart book away 2 a young college student dealing with a break up by my nephew 6 months ago. I shared what u had been through Renee & she is realizing now that GOD has oher plans 4 her life. Thank you for sharing!