The dryer buzzes loud in the morning silence with another load to be folded. There are piles of already-folded laundry on the living room floor next to bags that have yet to be unpacked from a weekend away. Our school day is starting soon and the girls should have been awake and ready long before now, but instead they’re sleeping.

And I’m letting them, even though it’s only going to make it harder to get through all the things we need to do today.

I’m just not ready to fight my battles yet: Make your beds. Put away your clothes. Clean up your dishes. Brush your teeth. Do your math.

There’s nothing out of the ordinary on the agenda, yet I’m not ready for the whirlwind of today. Some days are like that. I could use some positive motivation.

Scroll through social media or browse any bookstore and you’ll see it, I guarantee:

You have what it takes.

You are strong, Momma. 

Wash your face because you’re in control and you’ve got this.

Believe in yourself.

You are enough.

These messages are shared over and over again. They’re intended to encourage and inspire confidence because, let’s face it, life is hard. Being a wife and a mother? It’s no piece of cake. And yeah, most of us, myself included, will hold on tight to any shred of encouragement we can get.

But that thing we’re being offered? What if it’s false hope?

What if we’re not enough?

What if we don’t have what it takes?

What if, deep down inside, we’re actually weak?

What if that’s actually the best news ever?

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God…” (2 Corinthians 3:5)

My insufficiency drives me to my knees: “Lord, help me!” It’s the prayer I pray the most. No matter how deep down inside myself that I dig, I can’t find what it takes to navigate life with grace.

On my knees, I find grace sufficient.

Overwhelming and abundant.

This is what drew me to the Cross in the first place. And it’s what has drawn me to the Cross ever since.

We’re all sinful and we all fall short. And the popular self-help messages of today fall short of addressing that. They obscure the most beautiful truth we could ever encounter: God loves us.

So much, in fact, that He gave it all so that we could enter into beautiful and precious relationship with Him. He’s with us every step of every day, sustaining us through every moment and every mess.

I am not enough. You are not enough.

But Jesus?

He is everything we need and more.