Not Good Enough — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Clyde Naramore was a leader in Christian psychology and counselling and years ago he conducted a radio programme in the US for over 40 years. He invited people to write to him with their personal issues and problems, and they did in their thousands, and he tried to help.

He died in 2015. He’s remembered with great respect. He had a motto in life, and it was this:

Every person is worth understanding.

And I think it was a great motto. In one of his books, he tells of speaking to a lady who was quite anxious. She couldn’t figure out why, except that she grew up in a family where her mother wouldn’t let her do anything in the house. Her mother was a perfectionist. I could never do anything to please her. She’d shoo me out of the kitchen saying she’d do it herself, and of course my mother would do things faster and better than me. The problem was when I eventually got married at 21, I couldn’t do anything. I knew nothing about running the house and even worse than that, I didn’t believe I could do anything right, for you see, I was a helpless young adult.

I wonder how many people are like this lady who feels useless and helpless. I’m not good enough. How often have you heard that, or maybe you’ve said that about yourself. Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs, an amazing guy who travels the world speaking to thousands of people. You might have heard of him, you might have read his books. And he says this, if we went by the world’s definition of who I’m supposed to be because I look weird Well, surely this guy without arms and legs, he can’t have a productive life. He doesn’t surely have a sense of humour, he can’t love life. He says, we stereotype people in this world, and so if the world thinks that you’re not good enough, it’s a lie. You should go and get a second opinion. That’s what Nick Vujicic said.

A new perspective

What about Albert Einstein? Well, most of us think of Einstein as a synonymous with a genius, but he didn’t always show such promise. He didn’t speak until he was 4, and he didn’t read until he was 7, and some of his teachers, in fact, his parents thought he was mentally handicapped. He was slow and eventually he was expelled from school and refused into another school, but he attended a trade school for one year.

And that finally got him into university and he was the only one of his graduating class unable to get a teaching position. No professor would recommend him. A professor once said he was the laziest dog they ever had in the university.

Well, Albert Einstein a different story today. Walt Disney. Yes, Walt Disney – the Disney corporation rakes in billions of dollars from movies and merchandise and theme parks. But Walt Disney himself had many personal failures. He was fired by a newspaper editor because he lacked imagination, he didn’t have any good ideas. And after that Disney started a number of businesses that didn’t last very long. They went into bankruptcy. He kept trying and learning.

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But eventually, he found a recipe for success. Now, there are a couple of examples. Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, and, and we revere their name today. So rather than look at others, let’s realise that our worth and true value comes from what God thinks of us. There’s a great story in the Old Testament about Moses, and here was Moses, who felt he was a complete failure. He wasn’t good enough. But God actually called Moses to deliver God’s people from bondage, from slavery.

And Moses argued with God: God, I’ve never been good with words. I’m slow in speech and tongue. In other words, don’t put me in front of people. I freeze. I get nervous. I’m not a good public speaker. Of all the people out there, I’m sure there are dozens who are more qualified than I am. So what Moses was saying was, God, I’m not good enough. And then God rebuked him. Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who, who gives him sight?

Is it not I, the Lord? Now you go. I will help you speak, and I’ll teach you what to say.

So you would think then that Moses would say, OK, that settles it, but no, he moaned and groaned, Lord, please send someone else to do it. In other words, Moses was saying, Look, you don’t get it, God, I’m not good enough. Please send someone else. I think that many of us have believed that lie. Since I’m not good enough, I can’t make a difference.

Well, let’s just remember that we get our worth and value from what God says about us, and God says you are very unique and special.

Let’s Pray

Thank you, Lord. It brings a great deal of comfort to know those truths. Amen.

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