Disappointment with Self

Dear sister,

Does this voice taunt you too?  “You can’t do it.  You’re not good enough.  Why even try?”  The enemy of our souls is at work every day, convincing us that we cannot do what God has called us to do.  That fact, combined with unmet expectations for ourselves, makes a deadly duo.  I struggle with this often.  On the outside, I appear to have it all together, but just like you, there are very real discouragements, disappointments with unmet personal goals, as well as expectations others may have for me.  How can we hear the still, small voice of God in the midst of this cacophony?

The answer, dear sister, lies in the truth of our adoption in Christ, His perfect love for us, and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross.  We find encouragement from Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

I took a walk today, discouraged with myself and wanting to listen closely to God’s love for me…. and I was reminded of this truth.  God is not disappointed with me.  He sees my beginning and end, and He planned it all!  Of course this is not an excuse for sin to abound, as we see in Romans 6, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”; but I fear that all too often we place unrealistic expectations on ourselves.  We strive to be all the world, our families, or our churches want us to be…and are not resting in the simple truth of who our Father God has said we are.  You, dear sister, are His beloved.  He bought you with His precious blood, and He would do it all over again, even if you were His only child.  The world, the flesh and the devil skew this message, but if we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, we will find our true worth in Christ.

Will you commit, along with me, to something?  For every lie the enemy accuses you with, will you go to the Word and find the Truth of who you are?  Jesus himself used this tactic while in the desert with the enemy, and it will not fail you either.  I’m cheering you on, beloved sister!

In Christ

Ruth