Why does my enoughness matter?

There are five lies that came about this morning while I was praying -- five lies that I'm guessing many of my friends have heard somehow, somewhere before. Many of those lies literally RULE our lives, and we have no idea how to break that pattern or even that the pattern is destructive or even that there IS a pattern. God speaks to us when we listen, and this morning I was yearning to listen. Every single one of these lies I believe. Every day. 

God is asking me to believe His truth rather than my lies. And I'm hearing Him ask me to urge you to do the same. 

To be clear - I am not fixed now that I wrote these lies on a white board in my dining room. I'm incredibly broken - about as broken as I have ever been. And I've been begging the Lord for weeks to help me out of this abyss I seem to have fallen into this Christmas season - of all seasons. But maybe this is where God wants me to be so that I can embrace the season with more urgency than ever before.

In each of the lies I wrote down this morning, a common word is found. 

1. I don't have enough (time, talent, money, stuff...).
2. My problems aren't bad enough (to talk about).
3. I'm not important enough (for people to listen).
4. I'm not good enough (at anything to matter).
5. I'm not doing enough (for people to care about me OR for people to know I care about them). 

Enough. Enough enough. I have had enough. What is this word and why is it even spelled the way it is? And why has it caused so much anguish for so many people in our culture?

I could give you a run down of truths in the Bible that tell us that the lies are false, but sometimes, even knowing that the Sword of God exists isn't enough (see what I did there?) to urge us to pick it up and believe these truths. I can tell you that there are scriptures that combat EVERY SINGLE ONE of these lies, and yet what good would it do if you didn't have enough energy to look them up or faith to really wrap your head around the meaning?

It would do zero good.

And so I am going to do none of that. But I will tell you that distractions won't work. Watching TV, scrolling Facebook, YouTube, memes, alcohol, sex, exercise, reading self-help books, listening to music -- none of it will work long term to put you in a place where you will believe God's truths 100% of the time and stop believing those lies. 

The Psalms are a very good place to park for a while. Sitting in silence with a notebook and pen in hand is also helpful. Doing things that still your soul - even exercise if you can do it for the soul purpose of connecting with God - is a good place to start. Deep breathing a prayer for five minutes, talking out loud to God and telling him you have no idea even where to start . . . . also good. Give God some space to fill your brain with truths and stop filling it with what others say.

But know this. You. Are. Not. Alone. And you do have enough. And your problems are bad enough to share with somebody. And your are important enough for others to listen to those problems. You're good enough at something to matter to somebody - because God is somebody. And you're doing enough because somebody feels cared-for by you today. And somebody loves you. Regardless of how you see people - God loves you. And he's bigger than all of it. And that, friend, stills my soul.