Do you ever feel like you’re not enough? Are you constantly believing that after you change that one thing in your life, then you’ll be blessed? Unfortunately, it’s easy and all too common to feel like people don’t really see you, and that if they did, they wouldn’t love you or might even reject you. At the root of this is often the mistaken belief that God is mad at you or out to get you. After all, if He doesn’t approve of you, who will? However, the good news about Christianity is that it’s like every other religion, only inverted!

Nearly all religions say that if you do X, Y, and Z right, then god (or the gods) will be on your side. However, Christianity invites broken, hurting, addicted, depressed, anxious, suffering, sinning humans to come to God just as they are. He doesn’t save the perfect, He saves people, and He saves us in our present condition. After that, He invites us to live the rest of our lives in His easy yoke, where righteousness is an organic response to His unconditional love and the destiny He has for us — one that He brings about in His time.

Friend, I want you to take heart today and remember that God has a plan for your life, even though you are imperfect! Your Heavenly Father didn’t tell you to bear fruit all the time, He said to bear fruit in season. Just like a tree planted in a garden takes months and even years to reach full maturity and bring forth fruit, so it is with the Lord’s work in your life. You’re in a hurry, but He is not, and everything He is doing, even if you see it as a bump in the road, is ultimately going to produce a harvest that will impact you and those around you. Trust in the Lord, abide in His steadfastness moment-by-moment and season-by-season, and your perseverance will ultimately birth a blessing that you won’t be able to contain!