Date: 8/02/09
"I'm Not Good Enough
To Come To God"
by Pam Woodson
A
friend of mine in college at ORU attended a church in Tulsa that was scheduled to hold a Christian service at Rader Institute,
a live-in correctional facility for teenagers who had gotten in trouble with the law. She asked me to go with her there. I wasn't
quite sure what I had to offer. I never had helped out anywhere of that nature; I also never had committed a crime or personally
battled the kind of problems the teenagers residing there had. I was more the type others kiddingly could label as a "goodie-goodie."
How could the inmates there identify with me? But even if I didn't know it then, I do now: You don't have to have lived
every experience in someone else's shoes to understand he has needs, empathize with him in those needs, and relate that God
can meet those needs. For example, the apostle Paul shared a wealth of wisdom concerning raising children, yet the Bible does not
record that he had any children of his own other than in a spiritual sense. I accepted my friend's invitation.
The room at the institute building filled up with teenagers only two to four years younger than I was. Not meaning
to sound critical, I thought the service seemed a bit old-fashioned for its youthful audience (and I was still a teenager, though
barely, at the time, so my opinion qualifies). Southern Gospel music sung by older adults to kids weaned on rock
probably was not up their alley. Following the singing, a man preached a Bible message -- a good one, but not necessarily geared
directly toward that generation. Immediately afterwards, he gave an invitation for people to come forward and pray to accept Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior. At that point, it didn't matter whether or not the songs and sermon had been
contemporary; all anyone was focusing on was the God that had been presented and His Word that can impact hearts. I don't remember
if many responded during the altar call. I do, however, remember feeling somewhat awkward, wondering why
I was there and if God was going to use me for His purposes. The leaders called on me to do a couple of things, but I still questioned
if my being there had mattered much...to others or myself.
A few minutes later, as the group was
filing out of the auditorium, I saw a girl crying. I quickly made my way to her and reached her just as she was about to
walk through the doorway. I asked, "Are you okay?" She just kept crying. I said, "Would you like to receive Christ into
your heart? I'll pray with you." She looked at me and answered, "I can't. I'm not good enough," and burst out bawling. I'm sure her
past, her wrongdoings which had thrust her into the correctional center, were staring her in the face, glaring her
down to the tormenting, heart-felt depths of inferiority and condemnation. I explained to the girl that she didn't
need to be good enough; God loved her and would accept her just as she was. She was shocked that something like that
could actually be true. We sat down on a couple of the hardback auditorium chairs...and I prayed with her. She gave her
life to Christ. Her countenance instantly changed. I hugged her, and we parted -- me to leave for ORU, and her to begin a new life
in Christ. When I got back to my dorm room, I prayed for her to always continue with God.
That was the first
time I had encountered someone who didn't think she was good enough to come to God. If anything, most people I knew and know today
think they are too good to come to Him. They think they've got it made in the shade with a wonderful life, and so "why have God, why
pursue a life in His ways, why have Someone I don't really need?" This teenage girl, on the other hand, stood hurting and analyzing
her own ways and saw her need for God. She wanted Him but thought He surely wouldn't want her in return. How little she
knew about the Lord -- for as the saying goes "You don't clean a fish before catching it," and neither does He! One
song in particular traditionally has been sung by congregations during church altar calls, and there's a reason why. The song
is "Just As I Am" -- for that is exactly how we come to God. We come just as we are, warts and all, you might say.
The truth is, if you are one of many who think you have your life all together and are pretty much satisfied with how it is already,
you still need God. Though you don't feel you have any needs for Him to meet, you DO have a need for eternal salvation from Him
through His Son. You have a need to know Him personally, because, let me tell you from experience, you are missing out on a fantastic
relationship by not being close to Him. And in contrast to this -- the truth is, if you are like that teenage girl, thinking
that you just aren't good enough to come to God, know that His loving arms are open wide to you..now...as you are. Run into those
arms. Allow His goodness to embrace you. He doesn't demand that you be perfect before taking a step His way. Just come to Him, and
you will have an entire lifetime with God to search His Word to discover the character and lifestyle He wills for His
children.
And His child is what you will become when you choose the Lord. John 1:12 (NASV) says, "But as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." You can come to the
Father at this very moment, just as you are -- a person with a life that seems too wonderful to need Him, or one that seems too
detestable to appeal to Him. In either case, you have His promise, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8, NASV).
Simply believe in your heart and voice your faith by praying aloud, "Lord, I believe You died on the cross and rose from the dead
so that I could have eternal life. I acknowledge You as my personal Savior. I give You my life and choose to follow You. I believe
I am now a child of God. In Jesus' name, amen."