Craig Groeschel - Why Don't I Feel Like Enough
Well, at some point, most of you will likely hit a wall. You've got too much to do. You feel like you're drowning. You feel like you just can't take it anymore. Some of you online, you might even type in the comments section, "I'm hitting a wall". Any of you there right now, you're kinda hitting a wall. I've got some things in my life that are incredibly complicated people that I love, and it feels like it's too much. If you find yourself there, thankfully, modern culture has a really feel good message for you to rescue your aching soul.
If you're an exhausted mom and you're raising toddlers and you got diapers up to your ears, you know what I'm talking about, and you feel like you're never gonna have a life, you can read the latest blog for moms. It'll tell you, "Remember, girl, you are enough". Or, if you're fighting to stay alive financially, and it seems like every month there's way more month than there is money, well, the good news is you can look at your favorite influencer who will tell, "You have what it takes".
If you find yourself, you're just discouraged, you're overwhelmed, you're depressed, you're battling with anxiety, have no fear 'cause you can find a motivational podcast that'll tell you, "You are complete just the way you are". Because it seems like everywhere you turn today in culture, you hear the message, "Good news, you are enough. You have what it takes. You are enough. You're perfect just the way you are". And for those of you that are Barbie fans, the message is you are Kenough. Evidently, a lot of you are not Barbie fans. I will not try that joke again as the weekend goes on. You're enough, culture says, so believe in yourself. You've got this. You have what it takes. You define your worth. Hey, you're in control.
You write your own story. You are perfect just the way you are. And you wanna believe that 'cause that feels good. You wanna believe that you're enough, that you're smart enough, that you're talented enough, that you're good enough, that you're strong enough, but why don't you feel like you're enough? The reason that you don't feel like you're enough is because you're not enough. I mean, not even close to enough. And more accurately, if I could say from a theological standpoint, without Christ, you are not enough. Without Jesus, you're not even close to enough.
Maybe you say, "Okay, Craig, I get it. From a theological standpoint, if we're talking seminary and Bible stuff. Okay, from that perspective, I get it, that I'm not enough. But what's the big deal if I wanna just encourage myself and believe that I have what it takes, I'm perfect the way I am? What's wrong with believing that I am enough"? And admittedly, the you are enough cultural lie, it sounds good, and it feels true, but it is not true. And I would suggest that it's actually a very dangerous false gospel where the Savior is you.
And the Apostle Paul warns us in scripture in Colossians chapter two. He says this. He says, "Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from two places". Where? The first place is from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. Don't let anyone take you captive with the empty philosophies, the high-sounding nonsense that come from the lies of man and from the pit of hell, from the lies of human beings, and from the powers of this world, rather than from Christ. "For in Christ," Scripture says, "lives all the fullness of God in a human body".
So you also are complete, not on your own, not in your own strength, not by your own power, but you are complete through your union with Christ. On your own, you are not enough. On your own, you are not complete. The only way we are made complete is through our union with Christ. And you say you, "Why are you raising your voice? You're only seven minutes into the message. You usually do that later". And the reason is because this lie is very, very dangerous. It's incredibly destructive, and it will attack you generally in one of two ways, on one of two extremes. On the one hand, when you think, "Okay, I gotta be enough, I gotta be enough. I'm enough, I'm enough, I'm enough, I'm enough, I'm enough".
And then you realize "I wasn't enough," what happens? You feel guilty, and you feel ashamed, and you feel like a failure. And because you're not enough, you try so hard to be enough, you take your eyes off God, and you put 'em on yourself. Or on the other side of the extreme, culture says, "You're enough, you have what it takes, you're enough". And so you start to believe, "Well, maybe I am enough". Then you start to believe that you are the source of your joy, and you're the source of your strength, and you're the source of your success, which is dangerous because then you take your eyes off of God, again, and you put it on yourself.
And here's the problem. When you believe you're enough, you won't seek the one who is. When you believe you're the source of everything you need to be successful in this life, when you believe you're enough, you won't seek the one who is. So let's talk about the one who is. And before we do that, I need to help you understand just how not enough that we actually are. Because here's a problem. A lot of us, when we think, okay, I'm gonna look at my life and I know that I've messed up, I know I've made some mistakes, but I'm not that bad. And you may compare yourself to other people like, "That old boy in my class, oh, I'm way better than him. That that girl that I work with, oh man, I mean, I'm way, way better than her".
And we have to remind ourselves what God's Word says about who we are without Christ. And I gotta warn you, this is the part that doesn't feel good, but it's very, very true. Without Christ, what does God's Word say we are? Let me show you. Without Christ, we are dead in our sins, says Ephesians chapter two. Without Christ, we are without hope and without help. Without Christ, we are foolish, and deceived, and slaves to sin. Without Christ, we are spiritually blind. Without Christ, scripture says, we are wretched and miserable. Without Christ, the Bible says, we are ignorant and separated from the life of God. And get ready for this, if you think it hadn't gotten bad, buckle up your seatbelt. It gets really ugly.
Without Christ, we are objects of wrath and destined for destruction. Welcome to Life.Church where I'm here to make you feel good about yourself. I don't make that stuff up. It's just in the Bible. You may say, "But, okay, I'm not that bad. I'm not a bad person. I have a good heart. I do good things". Remember what Scripture says. Romans 3:10 tells us that no one on their own, no one is righteous, not even one. All of us, including you, including me, have turned away. No one does good, not a single one. Without Christ, we are dead in our sins and objects of wrath.
Now, when it comes to our sin, we don't like to talk about that, culture. I made a mistake, but not a sin. When it comes to our sin, we like to think that we're not that bad. And I wanna say that we are worse than we can imagine. If we compare ourselves to some people, we may feel better. But when we compare ourselves to the holiness of God, our sin is horrific. And I wanna try to explain it this way. We have to realize that our sin isn't just a legal or a spiritual offense against a holy and a judicial God. It's not just like I broke the law and I sinned against a holy God. There was a legal offense against a holy and a judicial God. It's so much more than that. It's actually also a personal offense against a very, very relational God who loves you. It is different. It's not just a legal offense. It's it's relational.
And I can explain it to you this way. Imagine if you get a speeding ticket. You're going too fast. You don't hurt the police officer's feelings when you do that. Why? Because you broke the law. It's legal. It's not personal. You'll never hear a police officer crying like, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sad. You hurt my feelings. You are going 85 in a 65. I don't know if I ever..." You're never gonna hear him do that, right? Because you broke legal, you broke the law. It wasn't personal. But if you sin against your spouse, it's very, very personal. It may not be just a legal offense, but it's very, very personal.
Like a lady was telling me, she said her husband was living a whole lie, the whole thing, cheating and on, and on, and on. And she said, "he didn't just break our vows, he broke my heart". And this is what we have to understand about God. When we sin against Him, it's not just a legal offense, it's relational. it's personal because he loves you so much. We're not just breaking his laws. We're actually breaking his heart. And you say, "Okay, well, Craig, I get it, I suck. We all suck. We sin. Why tell me this? I'm kinda having a hard day. I like to pick me up at church. Why are you gonna tell me I'm depraved, I'm objects are wrath, okay"?
The reason is because of this. To fully treasure what you have in Christ, you need to remember what you were without Him. To truly value and understand the depths of His grace, we need to remember what we were long before He saved us. And I can't speak for you, but when I look back to who I was before Christ, it was not pretty. In fact, sometimes I'll see a kid today and I'll think, "Man, that's just nothing but a punk. That kid's a punk". I was that kid. I played college tennis and on my racket, you could write words on it. You have your logo. I used to write cuss words, like really bad ones on there. I was the kid out there with a headband and stuff under my eyes and cuss words. I was a punk. I lied all the time, cheated. I cheated on people. I hurt my friends. I was addicted. And I drank and drank and drank.
And you know it's bad when fraternity guys and teammates say, "You're outta control". When a fraternity guy tells another fraternity guy, "You're drinking too much," that's when you know it's bad. And so I decided to stop, only I couldn't stop. And it was one night when I beer bong six beers, then drank a Seagram's 7, then went out partying, and they took me home. And all I remember is thinking is I'm gonna go out and find girls. And so I ran across campus and now I remember thinking, "I can't feel my legs. how cool, I can't feel my legs".
Next thing you know, it was the next day, I'd overslept practice, and the Kappa Sig president found me with my head hanging over this big major street and was kind enough to bring me back and dumped me at my place. And I realized that, on my own, I wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. And so by the grace of God, I called on Jesus, the one who is enough. And by His grace and by His power, He did in me what I couldn't do on my own. Not only did He forgive me, but He healed my heart. He changed me. I became completely new. And why am I going into the details? Because it's remembering the darkness from which I came. It's remembering my brokenness and my sinfulness that reminds me of God's goodness, and His kindness, and His forgiveness.
And so I wanna encourage you to take a moment and embrace your not enoughness. You're not enough. You'll never be enough. You weren't designed to be enough. You can't be enough. And this is actually not bad news. The truth is it's really, really good news. The good news is you don't have to be enough. In fact, if you are in Christ, and this is not all of you, this is for those of you that have been born anew by the spirit of God, if you're in Christ, Ephesians 2 tells us this. The Bible tells us that once you were dead, because of your disobedience and your many sins, you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world. Obeying the devil, the commander of the powers of this unseen world.
All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. Scripture says, "By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger just like everyone else," somebody help me with the next two words, "but God". we were dead and lost in our sins. "But God, who is so rich in mercy and loved us so much," somebody may wanna praise Him for His love and for His mercy. "God who is so rich in mercy and loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It's only by God's grace that you're saved".
It's only by His grace. It's only by the grace of God. It's never by our own efforts, our own religious inclination, by our own righteousness. It's only by grace. And here's where we mess it up. In the church, a lot of you would think it would go something like this. Imagine you're in the ocean and you're drowning, and you think, okay, here's what happened. God came along in a boat and God reached down His hand and grabbed me, and God pulled me toward the boat, and I pulled myself in the boat. God did His part and I did my part. Now I'm in God's boat. That's not how it works. The truth of the matter is, if you're in the water, you're already dead. You're face down in the water. There's no bubbles coming up. You're dead, floating in the water.
And God comes along and He reaches out and He completely pulls you up. Then when He pulls your dead self into the boat, He brings you back to life. In other words, He did everything. You did nothing. He did it all. We didn't do any of it. This is how good He is. And some of you today, you're hitting that wall. It's too much. It's a family issue that you can't handle and you don't know what to do. It's a weight. It's a burden. It's anxiety, it's depression, it's fear. You're overwhelmed and you don't know what to do. Why?
Some of you, here's why. You walked in spiritually dead. You don't have Christ. You don't have the faith for it because you're not spiritually alive. But God who is so rich in mercy and loves you so much brought you here not by accident, but to speak a word of life, a word of truth, a word of faith, a word of hope to bring that which is dead back to life again, and that may be exactly what God wants to do for you. You're not enough. You'll never be enough. You can't be enough. You weren't designed to be enough. But when you're in Christ, when he is the source of all you need, you have a different type of confidence.
2 Corinthians 3:4 says this. Such is the confidence that we have not in our own effort, not in our completeness, not in our own trying, not because we listen to the motivational thing and we can do it. We only have this confidence through Christ, toward God. Not that we are ever sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God and from God alone. He is everything that we need, and that's why we call on him. So I wanna speak directly to those of you who just feel like you're overwhelmed. You don't know how much more you can take. There's something on your mind, there's something on your heart. You need help. You're tired of pretending. You're tired of trying to look like you have it all together.
I wanna encourage you to do something you may have never done before. I wanna encourage you to embrace your not enoughness. You were made to need Jesus. And what do we know about who He is? The good news is, let me show you, the good news is that you may be helpless, but Scripture tells us that Jesus is your helper. The Word of God tells us, 2 Corinthians, that when you're weak, Jesus is actually your strength. If you walked in today or you're watching online and you are depressed, I came to tell you that Jesus is your hope. When you're exhausted, Jesus says, "Come to me if you're weary and heavy laden, and I will be your rest".
If you're anxious, Scripture says, hey, you can cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. When you're anxious, Jesus is your peace. When you're struggling financially, Jesus is the one who provides everything that you need according to his riches and glory. When you're hurting, who is he? Jesus is your comforter. And whenever you're in bondage, Jesus is the Savior who sets you free. This is how much God loves you. He is rich in mercy. He doesn't make you do it on your own. He created you to need Him. He completes you. He'll never leave you and He'll never forsake you. So what I wanna do now is I wanna bring the application.
My pastor used to say, "Whenever you preach a message, you always gotta ask yourself, so what"? This is the word of God, so what? So what are we gonna do about it? This is the application. This is the question you're gonna ask in your LifeGroup. If you're not in a LifeGroup, guess what you're gonna do. You're gonna be in a LifeGroup. Why? Because two are better than one. If one falls down, hey, the other one can pick him back up. Whenever two or three gather together in his name, he is there in the midst of them, and we're gonna sharpen one another's iron, sharpens iron, and we're gonna build each other up in the truth of the Word of God. And we're going to encourage one another daily as long as it's called today.
And in your LifeGroup, we're gonna ask this question. We're gonna talk about it over lunch, or dinner, or whatever it is. And here's the application question I want you to ask. In what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? And what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? Maybe you're trying to figure out your future. And if I do this, and if I do that. Maybe it's your kids and you've got the spiritual gift of control. I'm gonna get it up in there. I'm gonna make them... I'm gonna try to control whatever it is. It might be a financial situation. For me, right now, it's the health of a very, very, very dear friend of mine. And I've gotta trust my friend to God.
In what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? And then ask yourself this, what is God calling you to do about it? What's He calling you to do about it? Because we don't just hear the word, but we're doers of the word. We're gonna live out what God teaches us. Maybe it's to surrender. Maybe it's to confess your need for Him. Maybe it's to invite someone else in to help. Maybe it's to to turn over some area of your life. Maybe it's to get others to come in and join you in prayer. I don't know what it is, but what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? And what is God calling you to do about it?
So if you're hurting, if you're overwhelmed, if you realize, "I'm not enough, I can't be enough, I don't have enough, I'll never be enough, I'm not good enough, I'm not righteous enough," what do you do? Lemme tell you what you do. You call on the one who is more than enough. You call on the one who is more than enough. You call on Him. For example, Amy and I, we have six kids, they're all grown, they're all out of the house, they're all married, and they're all off the payroll. Oh, praise God. Dad, dad, dad, car broke down. Well, what are you gonna do about it, kid? It feels really good.
Nevertheless, nevertheless, I joke about that, but one of my kids called me this week and said, "Dad, I need advice. What do I do about this? What do I do about this"? How do you think I felt when one of my kids asked me for advice? Was I annoyed? I was needed. And this isn't transactional. This isn't a legal relationship. This is a relational relationship. And so I was actually very, very honored. You want advice? I'm happy to do what I can to love you and to meet your needs. When you call on God, God loves it when you need Him. He designed you to need Him, call on Him, call on Him, call on Him. When you do, what does He do?
Scripture tells us. When you call on the Lord, here's what he does. He says, "Call to me". And God says, "I will answer you". God's Word says, "Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you". Scripture says in Psalm 145, that the Lord is near to all who do what? All who call on Him. When I am in distress, what do you do? I call to you, and I love this verse. Everyone, listen to me. No matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter how dark your life is, everyone, every single one, everyone, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, will be transformed, will be forgiven, will be made new. The old is gone. And behold, you become new.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It's really good news, it's good news. If you've got too much, it's good news. You weren't designed to be enough. You're not enough. You don't have to be enough. You'll never ever be enough. And so instead, you depend on the one who is. His power is made perfect. Where? The Bible says in your weakness. His power is made perfect in your weakness. His power is made perfect exactly where you need it. How big is His power? His power is bigger than your stress. His power is bigger than your fears. For my God has not given you a spirit of fear, but a power and of love and of a sound mind. His power is bigger than your anxiety.
Cast all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. His power is bigger than a rebellious child. His power is bigger than your worst mistake. His power is bigger than your dumbest financial decision. His power is bigger than a number on a scale. You aren't defined by that number. You're defined by who he says you are. His power is bigger than a betrayal, is bigger than a letdown. His power is bigger than the divorce that left you broken. His power is bigger than the miscarriage that sidelines you. His power is bigger than the diagnosis that keeps you awake at night. Our God can do exceedingly and abundantly more than all you can ask, think, or imagine, according to His power that is at work within you, the body of Christ, so that he would be praised for generations to come. His power is made perfect in your weakness.
Wherever you're not enough, that's where His perfect power shows up. You could never be enough, but you're always loved. Because He is enough, you are loved, and you are rescued, and you are accepted, and you are chosen, and you are forgiven, and you are adopted, and you are freed, and you are redeemed, and you are restored, and you are renewed, and you can do all things not on your own because you're not complete, but through Christ who gives you strength. We are not enough. I am not enough. You are not enough. But Jesus is more than enough.
So whatever you're carrying today, call on Him, call on Him, call on Him, call on Him, call on Him. When you call on Him, He'll draw near. When you call on Him in your weakness, His power is made perfect. So application, In what area of your life? what area of your life? Just kinda close your eyes right now in a moment of prayer. In what area of your life are you relying on yourself instead of God? Now, what is God calling you to do about it?
Father, we need you. Speak to us, guide our steps. Give us the mind of Christ. God, stretch our faith to trust in you.
Today at all of our churches, without looking around, if there is some area of your life where you recognize you are not enough, you can't get it done, you don't have what it takes, but you need God to meet you in that specific area, if that's your prayer today, at all of our churches, would you just lift up your hands right now? Lift 'em up high, lift 'em up high all over the place. Maybe just leave 'em up for a second. Online, you can just type in the comment section, "I need God's power". You may even say where it is, with my kids, with my fight, whatever it is, If you leave your hand up, if you're cool with that, just let it be kind of an act of worship. And I'm gonna just pray for you.
God, thank you. Thank you so much that you're such a good God that in your mercy, in your love, you didn't leave us death. That you sent Jesus, that you are enough. And God, I pray for every single person with a burden on their heart today. God, I pray for everyone that needs a touch from you. That at this moment, that your grace would be exactly what they need. God, meet them, build their faith. God, show them your love, your presence, your power. Be their comfort, God, be their strength. Be their source, God, be their provider. God, be their hope. God, be their faith. God, would you be exactly what we need?
And God, we pray that you would continue just to conform us to the image of your Son as we talk about this with our LifeGroup as we go through the week. God, anytime we're depending on ourselves, instead of calling on you, anytime we're trying to figure it ourselves out instead of depending on you, God, just draw us back. And God, I thank you that every person right now with a hand lifted calling on you, God, you hear their prayer, you know the cries of your heart. God, we thank you that when we draw near, when call on you, you draw near to us. So meet every single need in Jesus' name.
And God, we pray that you would continue just to conform us to the image of your Son as we talk about this with our LifeGroup as we go through the week. God, anytime we're depending on ourselves, instead of calling on you, anytime we're trying to figure it ourselves out instead of depending on you, God, just draw us back. And God, I thank you that every person right now with a hand lifted calling on you, God, you hear their prayer, you know the cries of your heart. God, we thank you that when we draw near, when call on you, you draw near to us. So meet every single need in Jesus' name.
As you keep praying today, I wanna talk to those of you that came in, I'm just gonna say it. Spiritually dead, spiritually dead. I didn't realize this. I grew up going to church some several times a year. And so I kind of thought I was a Christian, but I had no idea I was actually spiritually dead. And I always thought, hey, I'm better than a lot of my friends or I can kind of try really hard, but what I didn't really recognize is that I was dead in my sense, that I didn't have the ability to ever be good enough for God. And this is why the gospel, it means good news.
This is why this is the best news you can ever hear. And I want you to hear it. If you've grown up around the church, maybe you've like heard it, but you've never heard it in your heart. Hear it in your heart right now. Hear it in your heart. This is how much God loves you. He loves you so much, you, so much that He sent His one and only Son Jesus, his son, who died on a cross so that your sins could be forgiven, that without Christ, you are dead in your sins. But our God, who is so rich in mercy and loved us so much, sent His Son to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves because of His death, because of His resurrection, it's by grace that we're saved, never by your works, never by religious effort. It's only by grace that you're saved today at all of our churches.
Some of you, you walked in dead. You're dead on the inside. You have no real faith. You have no real hope, and you're not here by accident. You're here because a very good God loves you and wants you to be alive. He's not gonna reach out His arm and you're gonna climb in. No, you're dead. He's gonna reach in. He's gonna pull you in. He's gonna bring you back to life. You're gonna do nothing. He's gonna do everything, and He's gonna get all the glory 'cause He's gonna save you today. And all of our churches, those who say, "I am, I'm spiritually dead. I want His forgiveness. I need His life today. I turn from my old life. I turn toward Him".
When you call on Him, He'll hear your prayer. He'll save you and forgive your sins today. And all of our churches, those who say, "Now is the moment of my salvation. I give my life to Him". That's your prayer, lift your hands high right now all over the place and say yes. That's my prayer right back over here. Praise God for you. Others today, right here. Yes, others, say, "Yes, Jesus. I give my life to you". And right back over here. Praise God, sir, praise God. Others, today, "Jesus, I need your grace". Right back over here. "I surrender". Oh yes, come on. Somebody give God praise. "Jesus, I need you, bring me to life. I surrender. I need your goodness". Online, just type in the comments section, "Bring me to life, bring me to life, forgive my sins". And let's all pray together. Pray:
Heavenly Father, I surrender and I trust you. Jesus, saved me. Bring me to life. Forgive my sins. Fill me with your spirit. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. I trust you with every part, every part of my life. Everywhere I'm weak, I need you. I call on you. I give you everything because you gave me life. Thank you for new life. Take all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray.