You are Enough with Tabitha Robinson, Esq.

Five-Year-Old Me

I am a quintessential type A go-getter. I have been my entire life. I remember the first time I made a “mistake.” I was a few months into Kindergarten, and up until this point, I had made a perfect score on all of my assignments. I defined myself by this feat.

One day, I accidentally colored a frog on my worksheet blue instead of green like the instructions said. I even went back over the frog with a green crayon before turning it in, but the teacher still marked it as incorrect. My five-year-old world came crashing down. As ridiculous as it sounds, I still think about my very first “mistake” all of the time. This event set the tone for the rest of my life.

I still lament my only “B” in college. I think about how I could have a perfect driving record if I didn’t get that one ticket for an expired tag. And as you can imagine, law school was rife with self-proclaimed failure for me, even though I graduated, passed the bar, and am now a practicing attorney. Even though these failures may seem insignificant, I have certainly made mistakes that have thrust me into the deepest shadows of despair and regret.

Yet, in these moments of numbness and feelings of unworthiness, God tells me that I am enough.

He Says I am Enough

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them.”

And if I am created in the image of God, who am I to argue? Throughout all of the seasons of my life, one thing remains steadfast: even through my failures–no matter how trivial or egregious they may be–God tells me I am enough. And this is enough for me.

The Impact of Grace

In the throes of failure, I think about Paul’s thorn in the flesh. In Second Corinthians, Paul describes a physical ailment that he likens to a “thorn in the flesh.” Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to remove the thorn in his flesh, and the Lord simply replied “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”

In reflection, Paul responded, “I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the Power of Christ may rest on me…for when I am weak, then I am strong.” I think about this a lot. Like Paul, God empowers me through my failures, and through my failures, God makes me stronger. With each failure, God provides me with the strength to persevere, and my strength makes my eventual successes even more rewarding.

Encouragement for You

Remember that during your failures, God is working on you. Although it may not feel like it, this is not a time of despair, but a time to rejoice in what God is doing in your life to make you resilient and strong.

Use your failures to glorify the Lord, and continue to persevere so you may experience the amazing things God is doing in your life.

Tabitha