In the beginning…

Starting off this series on “I AM for my ‘less than'”, it is only right to begin where God begins: with Adam and Eve.

The very first “less than” instance in all of human nature’s existence.

There they were, in the most perfect, sinless setting, but with one act of disobedience that changed the course of human history forever. Their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked and they hid themselves. (Genesis 3:7)

The ultimate “less than” is when we recognize our need of a Savior. The natural man cannot receive the things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Without God, everything sounds like gibberish, foolishness, and the ability to fully grasp our need of Him and our inability to be whole without Him, seems completely and utterly ridiculous. So going forward from here, everything will seem foreign until the very first thing is settled between you and God.

That “less than” feeling you are struggling with, could it be because you are trying to fight a fight you were never meant to be in?

I was a little girl when I first asked Jesus to be my Savior. I knew all the Bible verses. I was raised in church. The idea that God was the only way to Heaven, Hell was a real place, Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I needed to pray and ask God to save me, were all things I had heard from birth. Naturally, I did what most kids do when they are raised in a Christian home, I got saved early. However, for me, that is not my testimony.

Oh, it used to be. Sitting around a campfire, telling our testimonies at a teen camp or speaking before the church after a youth revival, it was my go-to reference point, but God was not quite there yet. I had prayed the prayer, I had covered my bases, I had full knowledge of God and how to be saved, but that’s where it ended. The rest of my childhood, I would live in a constant fear of being “less than” and therefore needing to ask God to save me over and over and over, just to be sure He heard me and that I was truly saved.

It wasn’t until my mid 20’s that I finally came to realize, faith and salvation are elements that do not require my supervision, my good enough, or my constant worry. I would always be “less than” on my own. I would always feel “not saved” when I messed up, so long as my salvation was based upon my being enough or my “salvation prayer” being sufficient enough for God to accept me. It was at that time I, at my lowest moment of running from God, realized I was truly “less than” without Him, but His blood was what made me enough. I would never feel that peace until I gave up trying to fix it and surrendered my need to be in control of my own salvation. The doubting stopped. The worry ceased. I had been truly saved all along, but I was trying to be enough to keep it, and well, that simply isn’t how God’s amazing gift of salvation works.

See, what I could not understand was that I was enough, not because of who I was, but because of who He is. When God looked at me, He didn’t see the shame, regret, and sinful heart that came to Him one day and asked to be a part of His family through the sacrifice of His Son. He saw Jesus! The perfect, sinless, spotless lamb who covers my shame with His blood. My best fig-leaf efforts fall short, but God dressed me in a robe of His covering until the day I trade this mortal body in for a new one.

So, does this mean, I will henceforth and forever more, no longer feel “less than”….

Oh friend, this would not be a series if that were the case. We are still clothed in this human flesh, are we not? We still walk on a sin-cursed earth do we not? Then, the struggle will remain. But one thing we should not need to struggle with in our “less than’s” is our salvation. Satan would have us doubt and worry and fear and dread and fall down the path of despair at every turn. But let us cling to the promises that God has fulfilled all there is to be done for our salvation.

If you are struggling with your salvation like I did, if maybe you have never placed your “less than” fig-leaves down at the feet of Jesus and picked up His covering instead, then let today be that day!

Romans 5:8 says He died for us WHILE we were sinners. He didn’t wait for us to be enough.

Romans 10:13 God gave His promise that if we call, He will answer.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 takes the burden from us and places it on the grace and mercy of Jesus. No work is good enough, no prayer is perfect, no human can manifest salvation on their own. It is solely through faith that Christ makes us His own and that, my friend, is ENOUGH.

This is where the journey truly begins. Without our salvation settled, there is no hope of I AM for our “less than”. We must be one of His to claim His promises going forward. So, if you are struggling today, please don’t hesitate to reach out and call upon Him. No greater thing will you ever settle in your life than your eternity!