You know what I'm talking about. You take a test and get that feeling in the pit of your stomach. Or you look around and start comparing yourself to everyone else. You can't help but feel like everyone is 30 steps ahead of you. Or like everyone knows something you don't.
Yeah, I've been there. It's called inadequacy. While the world may tell you that you are perfect the way you are and that you are always better than someone else, I want to be honest with you... You are inadequate- on your own.
Guess what. I am useless when I'm doing (more like trying to do) things through my own strength. I screw up. Every single day. I can't even count how many times I've messed up.
Imagine that it's your senior year of high school. You graduate in a month. You take a test and get a 0 on it. Heck, you practically got a -90%. There is no way that you will be able to graduate with a grade like that. Now, let's talk about how you studied: you didn't. You didn't even touch the study guide that you've had for a month. Your teacher even offered to tutor you, but you rejected him. You go to your teacher and beg for help. He decides to give you a better grade than you deserve. But, because of his love for you that you don't deserve, he doesn't just give you a C; he gives you 100%. He eventually loses his job because he changed your grade. He was destroyed to save someone that didn't deserve it. Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it?
(I know that I have been pretty dreary so far, but this is where it really gets good...)
This isn't just some fictional unrealistic story. This actually happened with some minor details changed. The teacher is Jesus Christ, and the student is you, me, and every other human that has or will ever live. But, here's the best part- He chose to save us when we didn't deserve it.
We were literally the opposite of righteousness, while he was the definition of it. We did absolutely nothing to deserve a second look from God, let alone His gift of salvation. I mean, the gospel is the only story where the hero actually dies to save the villain. If we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God no longer sees our dirtiness or our sin, but he sees the righteousness of Jesus on us. Every part of us that is incomplete is completed be God. Without the Lord in our lives, we are inadequate, but God doesn't see us that way. He sees us through the eyes of an unconditionally loving father. That is the only way for us to be truly adequate.
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." ~2 Corinthians 12:9
