A Cure for Feeling Not Good Enough

Feeling not good enough has spread like a virus. Everywhere I go, I meet women who admit struggling with it. I understand because I struggle too.

My story

As a young mom often tired and overwhelmed, I questioned my parenting skills and wondered whether I was damaging my kids.

As a ministry wife, I measured my contributions at the year-round camp where we worked and felt like I fell short of the other wives’ involvement. I even compared my garden-growing abilities (or lack thereof) to others’ horticultural successes and deemed myself a plant killer.

As an author, I deal regularly with the fear of being not good enough. What if permanent writer’s block strikes and I can’t complete the manuscript? What if no one buys my books, and my publisher takes a financial hit as a result? What if people read my books and deem the content worthless? 

I came down with a serious case of feeling not good enough while writing the Names of God series.


Who was I to write on this topic, anyway? What made me think I was qualified? Self-doubt threatened to gallop away like a wild horse with me as its panicked rider trying to rein in the beast. 

What’s behind feeling not good enough?

Much of our struggle comes from measuring ourselves against an unrealistic standard of physical beauty or others’ accomplishments and then feeling like we fall short.

Social media plays a significant role in spreading this virus. We see pictures and reels of others’ seemingly perfect lives and wonder what went wrong in ours. Let’s not be fooled. If those pictures and reels showed reality, I suspect we might feel a bit more positive about ourselves. If you’re interested, here’s an interesting article about the effects of social media on our mental well-being.

A cure for feeling not good enough

Refusing to fall into the comparison trap helps us move beyond our feelings of not being good enough. Better yet, seeing beyond our inadequacies to the adequacies of the One who has called us to our specific roles completely changes our perspective.

One of the biblical names of God in Growing Strong is Adonai, which means Lord or supreme Master. I’ve written about it before but want to address it again after reading this verse:

How great is our Lord [Adonai]! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! Psalm 147:5 NIV

I’ve read this verse countless times, but understanding more about the name Adonai (translated into English as “Lord”) opens up its meaning. You see, Adonai is our supreme Master who owns us and cares for our well-being. When He gives us a task, He always equips us to do the job.

This verse reminds us that Adonai’s power is absolute—it’s unlimited in scope. It provides everything needed to fulfill our God-given assignments. Plus, His understanding is beyond comprehension. In simple terms, we can’t wrap our minds around His knowledge and wisdom. They infinitely outshine ours. 

Ponder this for a moment: If Adonai’s power and understanding are unlimited, and if He promises to equip us (Ephesians 3:20), then why do we struggle with feeling like we’re not good enough?

If Adonai’s power and understanding are unlimited, and if He promises to equip us (Ephesians 3:20), then why do we struggle with feeling like we’re not good enough? 

Grace Fox

Here’s my premise: Because we haven’t yet learned to live from the truth of who God is. 

Learning to live from the truth of who God is as revealed in the name Adonai carries the power to transform us. In this case, it offers the cure to the virus of feeling not good enough.

Understanding God as our supreme Master replaces our feelings of inadequacy with confidence and reassurance that we do have something worthwhile to contribute because, after all, He sees to it that we have everything needed to fulfill our role. He just asks us to be faithful and He takes responsibility for the outcome.  

 Aligning our beliefs with the truth about Adonai also replaces our fear of failure with a sense of anticipation. Rather than the fear of failure tying us in knots, we can face our circumstances with anticipation: How might God use us for His glory?

Understanding God’s character as revealed in the name Adonai replaces our feelings of inferiority with assurance that He sees us differently. He accepts, loves, and equips us. We are His servants, and He values us. Contrary to what Satan wants us to believe, we matter to the Lord.

Do you want to be well?

Jesus asked a pointed question of a man crippled for 38 years: “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6)  When the man said, “Yes,” then Jesus told him to stand, pick up his mat, and walk. The man participated in his own healing, and so can we. Here’s how:

• Refuse to play the comparison game. Thank God for creating you uniquely with a specific purpose in mind. Focus on fulfilling your purpose; cease striving to fulfill someone else’s role.
• Reject the lies. When your thoughts say you’re not good enough to do what Adonai has asked you to do, replace the falsehood with the truth: Adonai loves, accepts, and equips you for the task. As His servant, you have everything you need.
• Respect Adonai for who He is. He is the supreme Master who always keeps His word. Let’s stop doubting His integrity and begin living from the truth of who He is. 

Lessons I’ve learned along the way

 As I mentioned earlier, I struggled with a serious case of feeling not good enough while writing the Names of God series. The reason? I compared myself to other authors’ literary successes and failed to recognize the lie that Satan had seeded in my thoughts—that I lacked the know-how needed to write these manuscripts. 

Ironically, I found the cure by reminding myself about the truths of who God is as revealed in His biblical names. Writing the chapter about Adonai dropped me to my knees in repentance for doubting His integrity and intent toward me. Grasping the truth led me to revival and restored my confidence that He who called me to this task would equip me for it.

How does this apply to you?

So, my friend. Perhaps you’re a tired mom. Maybe you’re a caregiver, a Bible study leader, or a schoolteacher. Perhaps you’re a nurse, an artist, or an aerobics instructor. Whatever your God-given role, know that Adonai makes no mistakes. Do not fear: He has chosen and equipped you. In His strength, you are more than enough to do what He has assigned.