Being You is Enough by Pastor Susan Foch​ler

I have been pondering of late what it means to truly know who I am as a Daughter of the One Most High, just as Jesus knew He was a Son of His Father in heaven. Growing up I never felt I measured up to what was expected of me. I had a constant sense that if only I was a different person; more perfect, more able to do everything just right, I would have been able to somehow satisfy the swirl of expectations around me. But I never could. The authority figures in my life unknowingly were carrying around an invisible measuring stick that said, “do it better”, “get it right the first time”, “be more perfect”, “don’t be angry”, “don’t be sad”, and “never make a mistake”. Perhaps you, like me, unwittingly accepted a mantle of shame and unworthiness - and assumed that was your reality.

We are Human Beings, not Human Doings
All of these messages are incredibly confusing and shaming for us as children. We grow up thinking we aren’t enough..if only we were someone else; more capable, more smart, more talented, more attractive, more popular, etc., and then we will feel OK about ourselves. None of those external qualities, however, are ever sufficient to fill the aching void of insufficiency. We get a message that if only we can do enough things well enough, we will feel that we are enough. God did not design us to determine our worth based on what we do, but on who we are. It is in knowing Him as a Loving Father who believes in us that our identity is firmly established. We are children of the One Most High; reborn of seed that is incorruptible. The Tree of Life says: "I live, so I have worth." It is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that says: "To live, I must keep trying to prove my worth."

You are Chosen and Accepted, just as you are
When we accept entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, we are adopted into a Family like we’ve never known before. Jesus says to us: "I have chosen you and I give My heart to you. I compare you to no one. You, being you, is enough. I accept you being simply yourself; and not because of anything you could ever possibly do for Me. There are no requirements or expectations you have to meet. I took care of all of that for you. Everything you have ever felt you needed to measure up to, I take upon myself."

The Price has been Paid in Full!
Upon being welcomed into God’s Kingdom here on earth, we now belong as we have never belonged before. We belong in such a way that there is nothing we can do to ever be disqualified or rejected. Our worth is based on the price Christ paid for us with His death. His acceptance is forever and unconditional. Isaiah 55:1-2 says:

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;
And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

A Place is Reserved for You
Jesus our Friend and Savior, has proven everything that will ever need to be proven. All that Christ paid for is free, available, and satisfying. You have a place reserved for you at the King's table, as part of your inheritance in Christ as a joint heir, and He wants to satisfy you there with the abundance that flows from His river of life. Come, recognize the thirst you have to know you belong and take your place at this table that will satisfy your every yearning. He considers you worth the highest price that could ever be paid!

Love,
Susan