Enough – Fighting the I’m Not’s with the I Am

I’ve had those days. Those days…when I’m fighting the I’m not’s. And I know I’m not alone. Conversations with friends and loved ones reveal the stress and agitation that takes root in our minds like ugly weeds that strangle growth… robbing us of fruit. Good fruit.

The I’m Not’s are always around, waiting to be heard. Demanding attention. They are not friend, but foe.

Why do we pay them any heed? Give them any measure of brain space and they want it all.

They constantly disturb us with their whisperings.

Whisperings of I’m not:

• smart enough
• successful enough
• young enough
• old enough
• thin enough
• popular enough
• significant enough
• influential enough
• short enough
• tall enough
• talented enough
• creative enough
• beautiful enough
• good enough

The I’m Not’s always try to convince you that you are not enough. Like the first lie ever told, they whisper that somehow you are lacking.

And, it is not enough. As if life is some kind of imaginary pie, where slices of opportunity are doled out to the most deserving, and there’s not enough left for one struggling with the I’m Not’s.

Enough! I say. You are enough. I am enough. There is no imaginary pie in the sky getting smaller and smaller by the moment.

The I’m Not’s do not have a place in the mind of the child of God. They steal what is good…what is ours. Good gifts given by a good God.

Rather than listening to them, why not focus on the great I Am? I Am, the God of abundance, gives abundant life to all of His children. No one need wonder if they are enough or if there is enough to go around.

I Am loves perfectly. He weaved us together fiber by fiber, sinew by sinew, into the masterful creation of whom He looked upon and determined, “It was very good.”

We are a good creation in His eyes.

I Am’s plan for each of us is unique, lovingly crafted for you and for me. Your plan doesn’t fit me. My plan won’t fit you. It just won’t work. We’d be miserable.

The I Am’s plans are perfect. They are enough.

They are enough, because He is Lord over everything.

And He gives everything we need, more abundantly than we can ask for or even imagine.

The I’m Not’s don’t deserve our time. Why freely give our lives, handing them over moment by moment to an undeserving, relentless thief bent on stealing our joy?

What if we were to keep our thoughts on the I Am instead? It’s time to trade our I’m Not’s for the joy that is I Am.

Look hard at the great I Am today. Abide in Him. Know that He is enough. And, because He is, you are. And, so am I.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”   Genesis 1:31

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”   Ephesians 3:2

“For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge — God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”   1 Corinthians 1:5-7