Have you ever had an earworm? Sounds gross, but an earworm is a song that gets stuck in your head and you can’t get rid of it. How many know have had the same experience?

It’s not just songs that get stuck in our heads. We can have other kinds of thoughts that loop over and over in our minds. Sometimes, those thoughts have become stuck in our hearts and minds. The problem is that some of those thoughts cause us great pain, hold us back, blind us to hope. Counselors call these thoughts “self-talk.” Destructive “self-talk” came along with sin. They are lies.

Our series is called “Headspace.” For the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about some of the lies we tell to ourselves about ourselves. Like earworms, they keep rolling over and over in our thoughts and subconscious and it can be VERY difficult to get rid of them. These lies become a part of us and change our lives ... not in a good way. The goal of the series is to dismantle these destructive “earworms” and make space for different thoughts. The theme verse for this series…

These are the things we want in our headspace!

The lie we want to work on dismantling today goes like this: “I’m not enough.” Usually, when we tell ourselves this lie, it has an adjective in front of “enough.”

“I’m not smart enough.”
“I’m not fit enough.”
“I’m not strong enough.”
“I’m not popular enough.”
“I’m not lovable enough.”

You get the idea, right?

Underneath all the adjectives is always this idea: “I’m not GOOD enough.” What is going on is that there is some standard that we have applied to ourselves or others have applied to us ... and we don’t measure up to it. Our NOT measuring up covers us in shame. The problem is, IT’S A LIE! So, let’s get started dismantling this lie.

The Prophet Isaiah lived cf 700 years before Jesus. This morning we’ll look back in Isaiah’s life to the moment when Isaiah became a prophet.

Isaiah believes he’s NOT good, smart, faithful ENOUGH to be a prophet! But God knows something about Isaiah. God knows that He created Isaiah to be speak for Him!

King Uzziah served Israel for 52 years. This was a huge loss and a time of great transition for Israel.

It is interesting: in ministry, some of the greatest transformations are spawned by huge transitions: a birth, a marriage, a death. These transitions provide an opportunity to look at life differently and try something new! Isaiah, in the midst of a massive transition (King U) is going to experience an even bigger transformation in his own life. Remember: Isaiah is a normal guy who becomes a prophet of God!

Isaiah sees Heaven. He sees God, His throne, His robe, and the angels. What I want you to notice is what he hears in Heaven. This is wonderful!

We still sing, “Holy, holy, holy.”

Have you ever sung a song and gotten the word wrong? Rest easy ... you’ve got the right words! But I’m guessing that you may not know the meaning behind the repeated. “Holy, holy, holy.”

In Hebrew, the biblical authors emphasized something through repetition. For example: when the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and ransack the temple…

“pure gold or silver” – “gold gold or silver silver” The fact that the word “Holy” is repeated three times, means God’s holiness is even more perfect than the purest gold or silver in the temple. His perfection is so perfect, it fills Heaven and earth beyond anything we can imagine! And when Isaiah recognizes who God is and just how astonishing he is, Isaiah falls apart. He realizes he’s NOT enough.

Psychologists talk about “imposter syndrome.” It is a fear that others will discover that we aren’t as competent or as accomplished as they thought we were. The Imposter Syndrome causes fear because of the shame of being found out and the humiliation from everyone knowing we aren’t enough!

When Isaiah sees the perfection of God and hears the praise of the angels, he knows one thing for sure! He’s nowhere close to the “Holy, holy, holy” of God. He is NOT ENOUGH! And he’s sure that he is finished ... he has NO FUTURE. But then…

Did you hear what just happened? In the span of four verses, Isaiah moves from saying he’s not enough and ruined to signing up to work for God! God asks for someone to go as a prophet and Isaiah says, “I can do it.” What changed? What made Isaiah believe that he was enough?

One of the ways that we can try to be enough is by making doing more ... and making sacrifices. Sometimes we make tremendous sacrifices to try to be enough.

“I’m not smart enough.” We sacrifice those things that are “beyond” us.
“I’m not fit enough.” We sacrifice peace of mind and torment ourselves.
“I’m not lovable enough.” We give up on any hope of a healthy relationship.

But here’s what’s incredible about Isaiah: what makes him enough has nothing to do with what HE does or what HE sacrifices!

The Old Testament had a system of sacrifices that the Israelites would make.

The people made sacrifices by bringing them TO the altar. But in Isaiah’s case, he doesn’t bring anything TO the altar. Instead, he receives something FROM the altar…

Everything that makes Isaiah not enough – all his sin, shame, unholiness – was taken away by something that came from the altar.

Psalm 1 makes a powerful invitation ...

The word used in Hebrew for meditate means to chew on it, mull it over and over. So here’s what I would ask you to chew on over and over all week long.

How do you feel like you’re not enough? Your imperfections and my imperfections won’t be fixed by doing more. Our imperfections are completely removed by the absolute, unimaginable perfection of God. When the Apostle Paul was devastated by self-talk and crying out to God for help, God answered ...

And it’s not only enough for you, it makes you enough. When God does what only a “holy, holy, holy” God can do in our lives, we become a masterpiece!