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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Read An Excerpt: Chapter 1 & 2

When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough…

I was completely blindsided. I’d been called into a meeting at my church with another women in leadership who was upset with me. She’d been upset with me for months, but I had just found out about it.

Someone had told her I didn’t agree with the way she was leading. But that wasn’t at all what I’d said – months before – in a meeting with several other leaders. I had simply been asked my opinion about a situation and I shared my thoughts and they weren’t directly about her at all. And I was so sad that I was just being asked about it, several months later.

I was hurt. She was hurt. We both volunteered countless hours in ministry, pouring our hearts and our lives into women in our church. All the while, we were on the same team and assumed we both fully supported one another. But now the trust we had built for years was coming unraveled.

It was a mess. I was a mess.

I was done. I decided I wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t resilient enough. And I was exhausted from trying.

That afternoon I went home and cried. Told God I was ready to call it quits. Laying my head down on my desk, I said I couldn’t do it anymore.

But… {my heart whispered} there was more to it… “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

I knew in that moment if I was willing to die to myself and completely rely on Christ in Me I could experience resurrection power. 

I could walk away from God’s calling on my life or I could allow Jesus to live HIS life through me.

 I could die to my desire to protect myself from getting hurt again and choose to tap into His power by relying on the strength of His Spirit in me .

I wasn’t enough … wasn’t strong enough, resilient enough, or humble enough.  But Christ in me was more than enough.

In my P31 devotion today, I talked about how we can turn away from our feelings of defeat and doubt by living in the Light of God’s Truth. And here is one of the most important truths:

Jesus did not die on the cross just to get us out of hell and into heaven. He died on the cross to get Himself out of heaven and into us! That is resurrection life – and the very place where we get our enough!

If you have been crucified with Christ, you no longer live, but Christ lives in you!! The life you now live in the body, you can choose to live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you.”

When you feel inadequate, remember God says: You are CHOSEN.

“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he’” (Isa. 43:10).

When you feel afraid, remember God says: You are REDEEMED.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1).

When you feel unloved, God says: You are LOVED.

“You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you” (Isa. 43:4).

When you feel forgotten, God says: You are REMEMBERED.

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isa. 49:16).

When you feel insecure, God says: You are SECURE.

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders” (Deut. 33:12).

When you feel unable or unstable, God says: You are ABLE.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Hab. 3:19).

When you feel worthless, God says: You are CALLED.

“Youare a chosen [woman], a royal [priest], a holy [daughter], God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLES of today’s promises {in MSWord} OR {in a PDF}.



A Confident HeartLasting Confidence Giveaway: Enter to WIN 2 signed copies of my book, A Confident Heart,  a Starbucks gift card and a Bath& Body works yummy fall treat! To enter, simply leave a comment below this post where it says “SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS” and do just that – you can share your thoughts about about today’s post or my devotion :-).

 

 

PS. Be sure to DOWNLOAD a free PRINTABLE of today’s promises {in MSWord} OR {in a PDF}.

 

Comments

  1. All my life I have been fighting against feelings of worthless. The word of God constantly reminds me of the love of God and brings healing to my broken heart.

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  3. It’s a blessing for me to have stumbled upon this post just when I needed it most. It wasn’t until today that I realized how heavy my heart has been feeling after all of the pain caused by constant rejections which I had to silently endure. Today was the last straw. I broke down into tears thinking that I’ll never be good enough and that certain people will never take me seriously. I feel so inadequate as of the moment. Thank you for being an instrument of God’s love by reminding me that these negative thoughts are not from God. Through His promises, I am little more at peace in my heart that He will always accept me, love me, and be proud of who I am and who I will become. To Him, I am more than enough. ^^,

  5. excellent put up, very informative. I’m wondering why the opposite specialists of this sector do not understand this.
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  13. “….I Love You More Heavenly, Father….” With this I will continue to share the gospel of the Lord. I am greatful and appreciative of your work Renee Swope. Thank You!

  14. Thank you for your thoughts 🙂 I really needed them tonight… I have been dealing with thoughts of feeling like I am not good enough for a VERY long time. I know that it is unhealthy, but, I find that the more I try and fight through the feelings, the worse I feel. Fear just keeps creeping in and destroying my relationships with others and with God. So, I appreciate all the help from God’s word that I can get. Thank you 🙂

  16. Hi Renee,
    I thank you for ministering to me today..
    I hope you get an opportunity to read this comment. You are a blessing and I would be so fortunate to be able to get a message like this across to other people. I am praying that God will continue to help you minister to others. Thank you. Love and prayers

  18. Renee
    This is something I struggle with in so many areas.

    So this was what I really needed to be reminded of!!

  19. Thank you for being so open about how discouraged you felt about your situation. It is a reminder of how God works in our lives as well as others. As our journey of day to day situations confront us, we may not always think or do the right thing at first, but if we listen and repent, His grace, mercy, and strength will help us to do, His will, not ours. We need to pray for the ability to be more real with other women, so they can see the victory we can have in Him.

  20. I would love to have a copy of your book to give to one of my Praying Wife’s Bible Study!! I got the eBook version of Confident Woman…Thanks & God Bless!!

  21. This is a constant struggle, I jokingly said the other day, I will be known as the lady that explodes then feels guilty and will apologize. Sadly it’s so true and I carry the guilt around like it’s a duffle bag.

  22. I have dealt with feelings of inadequacy my whole adult life. I will definitely add these thoughts and scriptures to my prayer scriptures to battle and overcome this self doubts. Thanks for reading my “mail”.

  23. This is so true when your parents really aren’t accepting my own walk with God. I know I have hurt them but when I was younger there was something that was different I couldn’t explain and still can’t. I was raised Catholic and so are my parents but lately God is calling me to a different church and as I look back to the past. I would always go to the Christian section and Beth Moore books were eyeing me but I was afraid to talk to them. So I was attending Zumba at a Church where you just know Jesus is there it is amazing and that led to me to Bible Study which also lead me to the single groups. About 3 weeks ago, I told my parents they gave me their blessing but you can feel that disconnection of dissapproval. Before both of my parent were married let me state that again before both of my parents were married there were in minister vocation. Plus I’m their miracle child…I’ve been crying about this for a couple of days just because but I know it is my walk with God and His plans for me. Plus I feel so much closer to God with the Church community of believers where I can see His reward and His glory and it is amazing. Asking for prayers and would love the confident heart to give to a friend and unglue..Thanks.

  26. Would love to win your book Renee. I struggle with self-doubt, and feel like I learn bits and pieces from different study’s and sources, but I have a long way to go. I have heard wonderful things about your book and would love to read it and see for myself. Thanks for the opportunity.

  27. Love your book and blot posts! Your book blessed me so much! I would love to win to share the blessing! God bless you!

  28. Renee your blogs usually seem to fit my life as I need them and I’m so grateful God led me to your blog. Today as I read your message it seems you were in my head again as this was a perfect reminder as God & I just spoke about this very subject the other day. I have doubted myself most of my life, especially if I am a good enough daughter of Christ. Often I feel as thought I am such a disappointment to him but see he is reminding me through you that I am not and his love for me is truly unconditional.

    Thank you for your words of wisdom, encouragement and love. Also thank you for the printables page. I clip them and tape them up on my bath room mirror and car visor mirror, my notebooks for school and bible studies and even in my kitchen cabinets to serve as reminders.

  29. Thank you for the wonderful insight. Always a blessing to read your devotions.

    Living in the Light <3

  30. Thank you Jesus I am chosen, redeemed, loved, remembered, secured, able, called. Help be live in your promises daily.

  32. God works in our lives every moment of everyday, if we just pause to see it. I needed this post so much!! I pray daily that I just be enough. Enough for many reasons and in many ways. It’s not that I need to BE ENOUGH but instead,,, I need to let go and let God BE ENOUGH! I’m flawed, and He loves me anyway and that is more then enough. I love you Lord for loving that lonely little girl that never leaves this 46 yr old woman. This post came at a perfect time for me. ~Tonya
    God Bless You and Keep You

  34. I love your devotions! I love the part where it says God loves the unloved…so very precious!!!!

  35. Thank You so much for what you do. I thank God that he has led you to share the things he has brought you through..It is so encouraging!! God bless you in all you do!!

  36. All I can say is ditto to ALL that everything everyone above has said. it’s so encouraging for me to hear that I am not the only one with these feelings. Thank you, thank you to all the gals who freely shared their issues/situations as it is again, helpful for me to know I am not alone.

  37. Thank you for your devotional! It was very timely. I love the encouragement and verses you give. I also love the printable that I can post and read daily!

  38. I really enjoyed this devotional! So timely, and I’ve printed off the reminders for myself and for a friend who deals with self-worth issues. Thank you for being led by the Holy Spirit to write the things that will help set women free!

  39. Recently God has shown me I am not adequate, I am not enough! God is all to everything. Thank you for this opportunity.

  40. I was talking with a lady in our church who really had not been involved with our ladies ministry, but maybe one time and she seem very up-set for some reason. I ask her would she come back again and join us. She told me she just did not know yet, there were some things she did not like. So, I ask her well, what would you differently? Before she was done, I felt overwhelmed. I wish I had not ask, because she acted angry. We are a small church and she thought things should be run like a big church. She thought we should have games at the annual women’s brunch etc. etc., which I started years ago. We do not have alot of time for games, but I could put a game in to give away a gift.
    But, that night I went home feeling like I was not a good leader. I felt like I had failed. Everything I do is wrong. I beat myself up good and cried too. But, that night when I laid down I started praying to God and ask Him to help me. I told Him I wanted to always do things His way, not someone else’s way. I needed Him to help me and I trusted Him. I felt so much better after turning everything over to Him.
    This is what I wrote:

    Change me, O Lord
    Make me beautiful inside and out
    Help me be the kind of person You want me to be.
    Change my attitudes and my thoughts
    Help me to focus on You,
    Help me be more loving and kind
    Change my heart, O Lord
    to feel Your presences,
    to be humble
    to let You guide my life.
    Change me, O Lord
    to be more like You. ~joyce
    Thank Renee for this post. It really speaks to my heart. in Christ

  41. Renee, I really enjoy your devotions so much. I listen to you on Spirit FM as well.

  42. Your comment that Jesus did not die on the cross to get us out of hell into heaven. He dies on the cross to get Himself out of Heaven and into us. That statement made His entire ministry crystal clear to me. Thank you for using your ministry to move women, young and not so you. Peacefully and respectfully.

  43. I know these feelings all to well. I am going through somethings right now and am overwhelmed with emotions. Not sure how to get where I need to be with God. I have struggled with feeling I don’t fit anywhere or belong. Thank you for the printables. I have printed it out and am going to carry it with me at all time. Thank you for all P31 does for people like me that needs that extra encouragement.

  45. I love today’s printable promises. I copied these out of “A Confident Heart” when I first read it. Now when I start to feel inadequate or not enough, I focus them back toward God in a prayer of thanksgiving: “Thank you God that I am chosen, thank you that I am redeemed, thank you that I am loved….” It helps calm my heart and to remember to listen to truth and not the lies that Satan would have me believe.

  47. I first heard of Proverbs31 Mnistries when I saw Lysa speak at a women’s conference in Kansas City. I have read and enjoyed Lysa’s books and Lysa and Renee’s blogs. I would love love LOVE to read the book.

    Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!

    Clearly, subtlety is my strong suit. 😉

    Seriously, I pray that the Lord blesses your ministry and it continues for years to come. You have truly blessed me.

    Thank you!

  48. It’s been a rough time here for the past month or so, where one thing after another bears down on me and my family, to the point the we do feel defeated. Thank you for your post today; it came to me at the right time when I needed it most. I really hope to get a chance to read A Confident Heart soon.

  49. I think we all feel like this sometimes. Thank you for the wonderful printable verses. Your blog is wonderful!

  50. I’ve been fighting the not good enoughs lately. It’s a constant challenge to keep my thoughts focused on God and not on what I “think” others may or may not think of me. It’s been a rough few months with my health and that leaves me isolated and alone with my thoughts. Dangerous if I let it be.