If you have been seeking bible verses about being enough to help get through moments of comparison or insecurity this encouraging take will help you navigate these real feelings with truths from the word of God.
“I feel like an octopus, and everyone is pulling on a different tentacle.”
These were the exact words I told my nine year-old on a day when everyone needed everything from me and I just didn’t have enough to give. We have all been there, at one time or another; in our families, trying to meet everyone’s needs; in our church, where we want to say yes but don’t have the capacity; and in our workplace, when it seems like our workload is beyond manageable.
We can often feel this way in our faith journey, when we feel as though we can’t measure up to God’s standards. He wants us to forgive when the person continues to do damage. He wants us to reach out when we don’t have anything to give. He wants us to serve someone who seems undeserving.
Thankfully, each of us is not enough on our own. That is why we are called children of God. He is our “enough.” God makes us “enough” because He is sufficient.
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What does the Bible say about feeling like you are not enough?
When we feel like we aren’t enough it is important that we go to the source of all knowledge to glean what was written for such moments. While there are many instances in the bible of people who feel like they lack, we are going to focus on three situations in the bible to discuss this topic.
King David was insufficient
The book of Psalms is a gift. As believers, we get a glimpse into the mind of another believer who is grappling with his faith and pouring out his heart to God.
David had already been anointed to succeed King Saul on the throne of Israel, but spent several years being pursued by King Saul and his army. He was tired, weak, and hungry, yet he cried out to God as his refuge.
In Psalm 16 ESV, David calls God his “portion” and his “cup of blessing.” This metaphor is used throughout scripture to emphasize that all that God is is all that we require.
God holds our lives and eternity (inheritance). It is in realizing that David alone isn’t enough, but in God, David has everything he needs. In the desert, in the wilderness, or in a cave, God satisfies.
The Widow of Zaraphath was hungry and hopeless
In 1 Kings 17 ESV, God sends a prophet named Elijah to be fed by a hungry widow. “I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” Elijah went to her and asked for water and a morsel of bread. She told him that she only had enough flour and oil for a final meal for her and her son before they would die of hunger because there was a drought and no food.
Her pantry was empty, along with her stomach and her hope. Elijah commanded her to do just that, then bring him some bread too. The widow obeyed, and her jars of flour and oil never ran dry until the drought was over.
Later on in the same chapter, the widow’s son becomes ill. Again, the Lord used Elijah to breathe life into her son and heal him. Just like David, the Lord became the widow’s portion as her “not enough” was filled by God’s sufficiency.
“Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” The widow knew where to go when she felt like she was not enough.
Also Read: 10 Uplifting Stories of Women In The Bible Who Impacted the World
The Apostle Paul was weak
The Apostle Paul wrote most of his letters in the Bible from prison or house arrest. He was physically unable to do the task God had called him to do. In Acts 9 ESV, the voice of Jesus turns Paul from a life of persecuting Christ followers to being a “chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles (non-Jews), and kings and the children of Israel.”
In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he shares about a “thorn” that was given to him of not being enough. “…a thorn was given me in the flesh…to keep me from becoming conceited.”
He prayed for God to remove it, but God responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul learned that his insufficiency was a reminder that God was all he needed.
Are there bible verses about being enough?
God created each of us in His image. We didn’t do that for ourselves, so from the very beginning, God made us to be enough.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27, ESV
We weren’t created to be God; we were created to reflect God and to portray his qualities. When sin entered the picture, we no longer automatically reflected those qualities, and we needed him to be enough.
King David, the widow, and the Apostle Paul each knew they were not enough. But they each knew that, in their weakness and insufficiency, God was enough. They also didn’t sit in the sadness of their insufficiency, they went to God to be filled.
God was David’s cup and refuge, someone he could go to and be filled when he was empty. The widow continued to be obedient as God became sufficient in her struggles. Paul used the thorn to learn to be “content with weaknesses”, knowing that “when I am weak, then I am strong.”
When you feel like you aren’t enough, where do you turn? What fills your cup? It is easy to turn to your phone, shopping, or a glass of wine to fill your emptiness. While none of those things are inherently bad, when they are used to fill our cups, they will never be enough or sufficient to make us feel enough.
What Bible verses remind you that you are enough?
The five verses below are reminders that God is enough and in our weakness, he makes us enough:
“But 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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV
This scripture about being enough reminds us that our lack is overcome by the power of God when we boldly profess that our worth is not dictated or diminished by our weaknesses and instead allow the power of Christ to rest upon us.
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”
Psalm 16 ESV
As with all of these bible verses about being enough, we are encouraged to know that it is not what we do or who we are that determines our worth or ability, but instead it is focusing on all that the Lord is.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalm 23 ESV
This verse is not only an encouragement but can be a prayer for insecurity when you feel overcome with comparison, guilt, or insecurity. When anxiety is strong around you allow this scripture on God’s capability to encourage you to keep moving forward.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
When anxiety and worry is strong, the Lord is still enough. There is nothing that can overcome the power of the peace of the Lord in your life. And because of that you have more than enough of what you need. Simply press into the Lord, and listen for his voice!
“Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:23-26 ESV
Our hope is these bible verses about being enough will encourage you to seek God and his power when you are feeling insecure and overwhelmed by lack.
You are not enough because God is enough
There are times when you are burned out and feel like you have nothing left to give. Use that as a time of reflection. Why are you feeling this way? Are you saying “yes” when you should be saying “no” because you don’t have the emotional energy to give? Consider how much time you spend before the Lord. He is your portion and he will satisfy you in times you do not feel like you are enough.
David, the widow, and Paul went to the Lord to be filled. That is who we must go to as well. Spending time with God in prayer and reading God’s Word is what fills our cup. He is our portion as well. We must go to him in order to be satisfied and able to pour out on those around us.