When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough
By Cathie Ostapchuk
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
I was facilitating leadership training and admiring a seasoned leader in the room. She was elegantly dressed and commanded attention in the room.
So, I didn’t expect it when she quietly shared, “I am not comfortable in my own skin. I do not feel and have never felt, that I. Am. Enough.”
There’s a quiet ache that many women in leadership carry — the feeling that somehow, no matter how much we do, we’re still not enough.
Not strategic enough.
Not spiritual enough.
Not outspoken enough.
Not accomplished enough.
I am often in rooms with women who have their doctorates and feel that I need to pursue higher education myself, or I will not be enough.
It’s easy to believe the lie that leadership requires constant strength — that if we’re not operating at full capacity all the time, we’re falling short. But what if the very places we feel weak or inadequate are where God most desires to meet us?
Paul, the apostle who led with boldness, confessed to a “thorn in the flesh” — something unresolved, perhaps even limiting. Yet God didn’t remove the thorn. Instead, He responded with a truth that redefines every part of leadership: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Sister, you do not have to lead from perfection.
You’re invited to lead from grace.
Grace means you don’t have to earn your way into influence.
Grace means your limitations are not liabilities.
Grace means you can release the pressure to have it all figured out.
In a world obsessed with image and achievement, grace allows you to lead with honesty, humility, and heart. And that kind of leadership changes people — not because you had all the answers, but because you made space for God's strength to shine through your surrender.
This week, instead of masking your weakness, let it become a meeting place with God.
Let grace be your fuel.
Let His sufficiency quiet the striving.
Let His presence carry the weight you weren’t meant to bear alone.
Because when you lean into grace, you’re not just leading well — you’re leading whole.
Reflection Questions
Where am I feeling “not enough” in this season of leadership?
What would it look like to let grace speak louder than self-doubt?
How can I make space this week for God's strength to meet my weakness?
Prayer:
Jesus, thank You that I don’t have to be perfect to be used by You. Remind me today that Your grace is enough — more than enough. Teach me to lead from a place of surrender, trust, and wholehearted dependence. Amen.