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Feelings of self-doubt come from the fear of not being enough. The Savior has the power to make our weak things strong. He will empower us with strength. As we trust in Him and focus more on what we can do instead of what we can’t do, our confidence will wax strong in Him.

Three months into my mission in Guatemala, I was assigned to train a new missionary from the missionary training center (MTC), manage a proselyting area, and train the leaders in thirteen wards and branches in welfare principles. I was willing to accept any assignment from my mission president, but I had one major problem: I ���dzܱ����’t speak Spanish well. I had no idea what Guatemalans were saying to me, and they had no idea what I was trying to say to them!

I called my district and zone leaders and asked them to call our mission president to see if he had made a mistake. I told them, “Our president must be kidding! You know I can’t speak Spanish. I’ve only been here for three months.” I knew I did not have the ability to do what was asked of me.

And my leaders agreed with me. “Yeah, you’re right,” they said. “Your Spanish is muy malo (‘really bad’)!”

My district leader called our mission president, who asked him not to question his decision. My zone leader also called and got the same response. I was scared to death when I heard my mission president was serious, and I spent the day crying over my feelings of inadequacy.

On the day of transfers, I approached my mission president—a former colonel in the Marines—and said, “President, I would never doubt your inspiration, but are you sure you weren’t thinking of someone else?”

He looked at me and sternly said, “Sister, I had the same concerns about your ability as you have, so I went back to the Lord, and He got mad at me for having doubts about you.”

Then he turned and walked off. I was speechless. As he walked away, I thought, “Wow, the Lord really knows who I am! He thinks I can do this! If He wants me to do this, then He must be serious about helping me.”

Then an inspired question came to my mind: “Are you willing?” Hearing from my mission president that the Lord had confidence in me helped me realize that it didn’t matter if I thought I had the ability or not. What mattered was my willingness. Was I willing to give my best effort with whatever ability I had? Could I trust that He believed in me more than I believed in myself and that He would enhance my ability?

That experience challenged me to focus on what I could do instead of what I ���dzܱ����’t do. Hearing from my mission president that the Lord did not doubt my ability gave me determination to show God that I did not doubt His ability to help me.

In the weeks that followed, I prayed and worked hard to learn Spanish. The assurance that the Lord believed in me, knew me, and loved me helped me think less about my weaknesses and more about doing my best to serve Him. He helped me learn the language in order to do what He asked me to do. I still don’t speak beautiful Spanish, but I know that as a missionary many years ago, I had divine assistance to complete an assignment that seemed impossible. Was my effort perfect? Absolutely not, but I was willing, and the Lord used my willingness to do His work.

Fear of Not Being Enough

We often find ourselves in situations in which we fear our abilities are not enough. Dan Baker, psychologist and author of What Happy People Know, explains that one of the greatest enemies of happiness is fear: “Contemporary fear, I’ve found, almost always fits into one of two categories: fear of not having enough and fear of not being enough. . . . But focusing on weaknesses, like focusing on anything else that’s negative, just reinforces fear.”[1] What we focus on matters. Focusing on our fears fuels self-doubt.

We may hear phrases like these from others—or have these thoughts ourselves: “I can’t.” “I’m not capable enough.” “I don’t know enough.” “I can’t do it—I’m not smart enough, talented enough, beautiful enough, good enough.” We simply fear we are not enough. What does enough even mean? Sufficient? Sufficient for what? To do everything perfectly? Not likely. To do something of value? Absolutely!

Fear and self-doubt are accomplices in preventing us to act; they wreak havoc on our emotions and thoughts. Are you afraid of failure? Do you think you are the only one who feels that way? Think again. Everyone experiences some sort of defeat.

Fear can be induced by our own thoughts or by the comments of others. Here are a few famous people you’ll recognize whose abilities were doubted by others:

• Thomas Edison was told he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
• Albert Einstein didn’t start speaking until he was four or reading until he was seven, and he was labeled by some as mentally handicapped.
• Abraham Lincoln failed in several business attempts and lost eight elections.
• Walt Disney was told that he “lacked imagination and had no great ideas.”
• Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) submitted his first book to twenty-seven publishers, all of whom rejected it, before it was published.
• Vincent van Gogh sold just one painting during his lifetime.
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
• Steven Spielberg was rejected twice by a university cinematic arts program.
• Elvis Presley was told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”[2]

All these people could have believed they were not enough, but they chose not to. And their success stories are amazing! They refused to let fear or doubt hold them back. We see common examples of the boy who sits on the bench game after game, year after year, but keeps practicing hard anyway; the teenager who is teased about her appearance but decides to be friendly anyway; the young adult who is rejected for a date for the tenth time but keeps building friendships anyway; the father who is laid off from employment for the third time but remains optimistic anyway; or the mother whose child was thrown in jail for the second time but refuses to feel like a failure, knowing she has done her best as a parent.

All of us have to choose not to give in to the fear of not being enough. President Thomas S. Monson shared the letter of a student who refused rejection from a college:

Dear Admissions Officer:

I am in receipt of your rejection of my application. As much as I would like to accommodate you, I find I cannot accept it. I have already received four rejections from other colleges, and this number is, in fact, over my limit. Therefore, I must reject your rejection—and will appear for classes on September first.

President Monson added, “I don’t know the outcome of that student’s letter, but there are many examples in life of those who rise from failure to success.”[3]

We can choose how we will respond to our feelings of self-doubt. Most importantly, we can choose to change our focus from fear to faith in our God in Heaven, who will help us.

From Fear to Faith

BYU president Kevin J Worthen explained the difference between focusing on fear and focusing on faith:

For far too many, this fear comes in the form of the false belief that you are not acceptable to God, that you are so flawed because of past mistakes or current inadequacies that you are beyond the reach of the refining and redeeming power of Jesus Christ. . . .

. . . If we want to decrease . . . fear in our lives, we need to increase our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So when fear threatens to overwhelm us, we should focus less on those fears and more on increasing our faith in Him who admonishes us to “look unto [Him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not” [Doctrine and Covenants 6:36].[4]

Can we challenge false beliefs that we are not acceptable to God and believe in His love for us and desire to help us? When we focus on faith in the redeeming power of Jesus Christ, our fears slip back into the shadows. Moroni reminds us, “I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men” (Moroni 10:7). Christ works by power. He has the power to make our weak things strong: “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27). Christ will empower us!

When we feel that we are not enough or that we don’t have the ability to tackle a task, can we remember that Christ has the power to strengthen our abilities? He desires that we take advantage of the precious opportunity to access His power because we are good enough to help! We are enough to love. We are enough to support, even when we whine and complain about our fears. We are enough for Him to give us attention, even though we are only one of His many children. Our abilities are enough for Him to work with, no matter how weak we may feel. We are enough for Him to grant us power to strengthen our capabilities. But the Lord requires a willing heart and a willing mind to do His will.

You may question, “If my weakness is impatience, do I have confidence that a perfectly patient God can lift me toward Him?” “If my prayers are lazy, do I believe that He, in whose name I pray, can enliven my daily devotions?” “If I am judgmental of others, what are the chances that the Perfect Judge, if asked, can help me replace my defective justice for more mercy?” Again, we are enough for God to help us; we just need to turn our hearts to Him and seek His will.

As we focus on the Savior’s power to help us, our fears will diminish. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught:

Rather than dwelling on the immensity of our challenges, would it not be better to focus on the infinite greatness, goodness, and absolute power of our God . . . ?

... We need not be paralyzed by fear. . . . Instead, we can move forward with faith, courage, determination, and trust in God as we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead. . . .

. . . Therefore, let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us.[5]

How can we obtain that bold confidence? Psychotherapist Dan Baker suggests a starting point:

Courage, they say, is not the lack of fear, but the ability to take action in spite of it. But where does that ability come from? What power grants the strength to overcome the sick, shaky feeling of fear?

Only one power is that strong: love.

. . . Fear impels us to survive, and love enables us to thrive. . . .

. . . Nobody’s perfect, and if you’re afraid you’re not good enough to be loved, you’ll always find an imperfection to feed that fear.

Happy people don’t fight the imperfection. They fight the fear. Nobody overcomes this fear easily. The fear of not being enough is strong. But it’s not as strong as love.[6]

Love is stronger than fear. If we are still on day one of our development—like the first day of the seven-day Creation process—we are good enough to be loved by God. Second Timothy 1:7 teaches us, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” What is a sound mind? I think of someone whose thoughts are steady, secure, and anchored in faith. It gives me comfort to know that God will help us have a sound mind—that is, He will help us turn our focus from fear to faith in His love and power. President Russell M. Nelson has said, “Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do. Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to His power.”[7] How can we act? What can we do to access God’s power to make our “weak things become strong”?

Focusing on What We Can Do—the Widow’s Mite

God asks that we start wherever we are and go forward from there, that we focus on what we can do instead of what we can’t do. We might ask ourselves, “What can I do today with what I do know and with what capability I do have right now?”

We know the story of the poor widow who cast two mites into the temple treasury. Her offering to God was very small, but it was enough (see Mark 12:43–44). We usually think of this story of the widow’s mite in terms of our monetary offerings, but it also applies to all our gifts that we can offer Heavenly Father. The widow whose love for God was stronger than her fear of not “being enough” gave her all—two little mites.

The story of the widow and the mites shows that our efforts and offerings, no matter how small, are enough to please the Lord. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

What “mites” do we have to offer? Can we, like this widow, give what we have—however seemingly little that may be—knowing our efforts are acceptable and sufficient for the Lord? Offering what we can do and what we do have is enough for the Lord to work with us and through us to bless lives. The widow focused on what she could give, not on what she ���dzܱ����’t. Likewise, our honest effort is all God asks for in exchange for His aid. Focusing on what we can do and showing our willingness to try is a signal to God that we are seeking His help to enhance what ability we have.

Focusing on our weaknesses blinds us to the “mites” we can offer. A daughter avoids soccer tryouts because she fears she’s not good enough, but she overlooks her ability to learn fast and work hard. A young man thinks he shouldn’t serve a mission because he’s shy, but he overlooks his talent for loving people. A mother doesn’t take a meal to a sick friend because her cooking ability is limited, but she overlooks her talent to give encouraging messages. We know that through small and simple things, great things will be brought to pass (see Alma 37:6–7). God asks us to give our best—however small and simple that may be. I can imagine a loving Heavenly Father telling us that He is pleased and thankful for every good deed we offer. He cheers for us at every attempt we make to be good and to do good.

Whatever our roles may be, we often feel stretched to the limits of our capability. The Savior invites us to walk our journey with Him by asking us to have a willing heart and a willing mind. In Exodus 35:5 we read, “Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord.” We honor Christ by offering what we do have and what we can do and by being willing to trust Him and willing to try.

Willingness to Trust

In the Book of Mormon, Ammon sets a great example of trusting in the Lord’s power to strengthen him. After seeing Ammon’s great success in protecting King Lamoni’s flocks from intruders, Ammon’s friends marveled at his strength. Though in the eyes of his companions he was something of a superhero, Ammon reminded them, “I do not boast in my own strength, . . . but behold, my joy is full. . . . Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:11–12). We might imagine how this story would have turned out had Ammon said at the beginning, “I’ve got this! Trust me! I can do it myself!” If Ammon had relied entirely on his own strength, would he have saved only part of King Lamoni’s flock, cut off the arm of only a single robber, protected only a few servants? Would he have boasted of his own strength with his minimal success? Or would he have died?

Ammon’s trust in God was so pure that his success in protecting the king’s flocks and servants was miraculous. Ammon’s story teaches a powerful lesson, linking trust in God with humility.

What is humility? Humility is often seen as a weakness, a vice instead of a virtue. In the world’s eyes, to be humble is to recognize everything we don’t do well or can’t do at all. Is that really what the Lord intends when He asks us to be humble? In True to the Faith we read, “To be humble is to recognize gratefully your dependence on the Lord—to understand that you have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgement that your talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that you know where your true strength lies.”[8] I love Ammon’s humility. He demonstrates the power and confidence derived from being humble.

The word nothing in Ammon’s story is often confusing. Are we really supposed to think we are nothing? In Mosiah 4:11 we similarly read, “I would that ye should remember . . . the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, . . . and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility.” Being nothing sounds contrary to the fact that God wants us to believe in our divine potential. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. . . . The great deceiver knows that one of his most effective tools in leading the children of God astray is to appeal to the extremes of the paradox of man.”[9] On one extreme are people who think they are everything, that they don’t need God’s power because their own ability is sufficient. On the other extreme are people who think they are nothing, that they are too weak to accomplish much because they are alone. Satan will do all he can to compel us to think we are everything or nothing, because his goal is to disconnect us from God—to convince us to go it alone, either in pride or despair. But Ammon teaches us that we can’t go it alone. “I am nothing; as to my [own] strength I am weak” (Alma 26:12). We need God’s strength. To reach our potential, we can’t do it without Him!

Moses also testifies that our strength is connected to the glory, grandeur, and power of our God in Heaven. We can imagine that after Moses experienced his mighty position in Egypt and felt the praise of the world, he had a taste of thinking he was “everything.” Maybe he thought he was great because of his own strength. Later he sees God face to face. He perceives the grandeur of God’s creation—including him, a child of God, made in the image of heavenly parents. “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:10; italics added). Moses learns that compared to God’s power and greatness, his strength is “nothing.” When Satan challenges Moses’s identity, Moses replies, “I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten” (Moses 1:13). Moses learned that he was made in the image of God, with the potential, power, and privilege to become like Him. Understanding the significance of that privilege, he knew that acquiring strength on his own was nothing compared to the opportunity of being empowered by God.

In other words, Satan would have us think that we are either nothing because of our own limitations or everything because of our perceptions of our own strength. Either way, we are disconnected from the power of God to help us. Therefore, when we connect ourselves to God’s power, we can “boast of [our] God, for in his strength [we] can do all things” (Alma 26:12).

On my mission, Ammon’s story kept me going. I too felt like I was nothing according to my own strength, and I wanted to be honest with myself about how I really felt. I didn’t feel capable of doing everything that was asked of me. Self-doubt also hits me when I am trying to be a good mother. Knowing my daughters need wisdom beyond my own understanding is especially daunting. But Ammon’s expression of confidence that he could do all things in the strength of the Lord continues to remind me of God’s enabling power, His ability to magnify my efforts. Ammon was willing to trust. He reminds us, “I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (verse 12). That sentence gives me hope.

Ammon knew that trusting in God’s power would magnify his strength. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that humility involves trusting God’s power:

How can we sincerely pray to be an instrument in His hands if the instrument seeks to do the instructing? . . .

If faithful, we end up acknowledging that we are in the Lord’s hands and should surrender to the Lord on His terms—not ours. . . . It is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us. And if we truly trust God, why not yield to His loving omniscience? After all, He knows us and our possibilities much better than do we.[10]

If God knows us and our possibilities better than we do, are we willing to trust that He knows best? Can we trust that He loves us, knows us, has our best interests at heart? Can we trust that He can make more of us than we can make of ourselves?

Trust and humility are inseparable. They complement each other and work well together. They anchor our confidence in God. Why is humility essential to accompany trust?

In the Encyclopedia of Mormonism we learn, “True humility is the recognition of one’s imperfection that is acquired only as one joyfully, voluntarily, and quietly submits one’s whole life to God’s will.”[11] What does submission to the will of God look like? To me, it means that I trust in God’s wisdom and the promptings I receive through the Spirit. It means that I trust that He knows best instead of thinking I know best. It means that I trust that He can make more of me than I can make of myself. It means that I work hard and trust that He will magnify my efforts. It means that I seek to do His will instead of wanting to do my will first. I know that humbly submitting our will to God qualifies us for the empowerment of God. “Let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power . . . ? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel” (Alma 26:16).

I agree with Ammon. I cannot “glory too much in the Lord.” I cannot “say too much of his great power.”

Willingness to Try

The greatest problem with self-doubt is that it limits our view of who we are and what we can become. When we fear we aren’t enough, we become hesitant to try, and being willing to try is the next step after learning that we must trust in the Lord. Too often we hold fast to false beliefs about ourselves and our potential. The tragedy of this mindset is captured in an empowering short story about a person observing elephants in captivity. The author (unknown) captures a false mindset of capability:

As a man was passing the elephants [resting in their corner at a circus], he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” [the] trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they ���dzܱ����’t, they were stuck right where they were.[12]

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life not willing to try because we think we don’t have the ability? We may see only our limitations and weaknesses and lose sight of our possibilities. We may be unaware that our abilities have increased. We can break free of limiting beliefs! Are we willing to try?

Sometimes other people’s beliefs about us affect our confidence. When my friend Sarah was in junior high school, she ran a school race for a field day. After the race, a boy said to her, “You run funny.”

“Because of that comment,” she told me, “I didn’t sign up for another race in school. And not only did I not run races in school, but I didn’t run for twenty-five years after he said that to me. I finally got over that comment from all those years ago and took up running, and I love it! Since then, I have run eleven marathons and several half marathons. As I ran the Boston Marathon at age forty-five, I thought of that boy from seventh grade, and I was proud to be a runner.”

Unfortunately, the outcome of a similar experience in my life wasn’t as successful. When I was in tenth grade, I sang in the a cappella choir. One day during rehearsal, a boy leaned over to me and said, “Your singing is flat.” I just looked at him and said, “Oh.” In my mind I was thinking, “What does that mean? I have no idea if I’m singing flat or sharp” (and honestly, I still don’t have a clue). No singing career for me! After choir that year, I didn’t sing in a singing group again. Today, when I sing around our home, my husband reminds me that I sing as well as he does—in a beautiful, flat monotone!

Sarah was willing to try—to put forth effort—to develop the talent of running. In contrast, I did not dedicate time to develop the talent of singing. I surrendered to doubt. It may be true that I don’t have the potential to become an opera singer, but do I really have to hold myself back from being a beautiful shower singer, someone my family can listen to without covering their ears?

What limiting beliefs tie us down or hold us back? Perhaps we do indeed have the talent and capability but have let some comment or belief hold us down. Or perhaps we really don’t have much singing talent but thoroughly enjoy the musical talents of others. The critical point is not letting self-doubt hold us back from becoming everything we desire to become.

Elder Holland insists that “with the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed.”[13] Our Lord is aware of every sincere effort we make. And each effort counts. In a BYU devotional, Cassy Budd said, “Simply showing up and starting where you are is all that can be asked of you. Regardless of your level of experience, your failures, or your perception of your own potential, wherever you are in life, you just need to show up and try.”[14]

On my mission I realized that my effort was all I had to give; my effort was the invitation the Lord required so that He could step in to help. Focusing on what I could do instead of what I ���dzܱ����’t motivated me to give my best with whatever I had to offer.

The Lord often blesses us with what we need when we are stretched beyond our comfort zone. My twin sister shared this story from her own life:

Many years ago, with four young children, I was faced with some challenges that would impact my marriage and my family forever. I was overwhelmed and unsure of what direction I should take and what the future looked like for me and my family. . . . For what seemed like weeks I was literally praying every few hours just to have some peace of mind and comfort and know that I could handle the challenges that lay ahead.

Then, what came next was completely crazy; my bishop called and asked me if I would accept a calling to be the Relief Society pianist. I thought, “Really? I can’t handle anything right now.” As I laughed, I responded, “Seriously? I have not played the piano in several years and have not had a piano in my home for the last thirteen years.”

Undaunted, he said, “So, will you do it?” I said yes—because I was even worse at saying no than playing the piano—and returned home stunned at what I had just agreed to do.

I spent at least twenty to thirty minutes each day practicing. About a month later, a friend called and offered to give us a piano she no longer wanted. She definitely was an answer to prayer. . . .

Over the next year or two, while I served in that capacity, I realized how inspired my bishop was! I desperately needed music back in my life to give some much needed relief and solace. . . . I noticed that while practicing the piano every day, I felt peace from the music—the peace I had asked for in so many prayers. That experience reminded me . . . that Heavenly Father knows what each of us is going through and especially that we are not alone. Most of all I learned that Heavenly Father loves me and knows what I need to help me on this journey through life.[15]

The Lord does know us. He knows our challenges. And He knows how to minister to our needs. As we offer what we can, He blesses us in ways that we often don’t know we need.

God believes in us! Can we believe in Him? Can we believe in His willingness to magnify our efforts? Can we challenge our thoughts of self-doubt and replace our fear of not being enough with thoughts that we are enough to try—that we can offer what we do have and what we can do? If we are willing to try and offer our best, the Savior will empower our efforts.

Focus on Service

As a young missionary in England, President Gordon B. Hinckley learned to put his trust in God and to focus his efforts on doing His work. He felt unsuccessful in his missionary efforts and wrote home to ask his father’s advice. His father suggested that Gordon “forget [himself] and go to work.”[16] That change of focus changed his mission.

Likewise, we also must forget ourselves and go to work. How do we forget ourselves when we feel inadequate? It takes humility—lots of humility! When we forget ourselves, we become more concerned about serving God than about stewing over our weaknesses; we seek to serve more than we desire to sit in self-pity. “We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. . . . Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to Heavenly Father’s purposes,” taught Elder Uchtdorf.[17] For me, the less I worry about my abilities and the more I focus on what I can do for others, the happier I am.

Forgetting ourselves can be hard. Why? One reason is the insistent current of social messaging that encourages self-interest, self-actualization, and self-promotion. We are socialized to believe that we are the sun around which all else orbits. This attitude leads to preoccupation with ourselves instead of devotion to serving God and others. Forgetting ourselves requires a change of focus—a shift from fixating on our weaknesses to ministering to others. We choose whether we want to rely on our own strength or on the power of God. Then we go to work—with whatever ability we have at the moment.

Elder Neil L. Andersen spoke of his feelings of inadequacy as he thought about serving a mission: “I felt very inadequate and unprepared. I remember praying, ‘Heavenly Father, how can I serve a mission when I know so little?’ I believed in the Church, but I felt my spiritual knowledge was very limited. As I prayed, the feeling came: ‘You don’t know everything, but you know enough!’ That reassurance gave me the courage to take the next step into the mission field.”[18] Now we have over eighty thousand missionaries throughout the world who don’t know everything, but they know enough—they know enough to work hard every day, to meet and serve one person at a time, and to bear witness of Christ. They offer what they have, what they know, and what they believe. It is enough.

Can we believe the Lord when He says we are enough for Him to empower us with strength to bless the lives of others? As we read in 2 Nephi 22:2, “God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength.” The Lord empowers us not only with strength but also with the ability to bless the lives of others when we focus less on our weaknesses and more on our opportunities to humbly serve. And there is another “paradox of man”: our strength increases as we strengthen others. This is the paradox at the center of Christian doctrine: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25).

Trusting Christ’s Power—Weak Things Become Strong

From time to time, we have tasks that seem beyond our reach. Some challenges we cannot give up, we cannot change—we have to go through them. My husband encountered such a task on one portion of his trek on the Camino. Ascending the Montes de Oca on a bike, he found the climb too steep for his abilities. He rode a few meters on the rocky, muddy, narrow, and steep terrain, then pushed the bike, then carried the bike, then rode a bit more. Finally arriving at the summit, exhausted and sore, he discovered an “oasis”—a refreshment stand stocked by the locals, offering beverages and fruit for the passing pilgrims. Rested and refreshed, he continued his journey until arriving at his destination, the city of Burgos, Spain, several hours later.

When we find our tasks never-ending and overwhelming, Christ will fill in the gaps where we are weak. He will give us the strength to keep pressing forward. We trust Him. And then we keep trying. Then we find our oasis of peace—even if there is still another hill to climb. Because we know He does not doubt we can do it. Because He offers help. Because He loves us.

Photo of the rocky hill, Montes de Oca, that was overwhelming for my husband to climb on a bike—a feeling we experience with tasks that seem beyond our reach. Photo by John Rosenberg.

In giving me a difficult assignment, my mission president gave me a gift—the gift to see how the Lord views our imperfections and weaknesses and how He would like to work with us in overcoming them. I’m thankful for a mission president who taught me that the Lord knows each one of us individually. He taught me that God never doubts our potential. God believes in us. He believes in our ability to do great things even as we offer our less-than-perfect best. I realized that I needed to change my focus to what I could do instead of what I ���dzܱ����’t do, to what I did know instead of what I didn’t know, to the abilities I did have—however small and weak—instead of what I did not have at that moment. I learned that since God does not doubt me, I must not doubt Him.

Today I still rely on that lesson I learned on my mission. It gives me confidence as a mother, a teacher, and a wife and in my Church callings. Nephi’s psalm echoes my feelings: “I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support. . . . He hath filled me with his love. . . . He hath heard my cry. . . . O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:19–21, 23, 34).

President Nelson spoke of the joy we feel when we focus on Christ’s power: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is filled with His power, which is available to every earnestly seeking daughter or son of God. It is my testimony that when we draw His power into our lives, both He and we will rejoice.” Further, “drawing the Savior’s power into our lives is to reach up to Him in faith. Such reaching requires diligent, focused effort.”[19] We will experience Christ’s power to make our weak things strong as we are willing to trust in Him and willing to try.

Can we recognize thoughts that are focused on fear of not being enough and change our focus to faith in the power of Christ?

Whatever our abilities may be, we often feel stretched to our limits of capability. I imagine the Savior gathering us one by one and calming our fears: “Come warm your hands by the fire of my peace and strength. I don’t doubt your ability to contribute; please don’t doubt my ability to strengthen you.” Exodus 35:5 entreats, “Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord.” We honor Christ by offering what we do have and what we can do.

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Invitation: Focus on the Savior’s power to strengthen you. Focus on what you can do, on what you do know, and on what you do have. Offer your best—it is enough for Him to make weak things strong.

Think-in-ink journal challenge: Make a list of the “mites” you have to offer. (Who can you bless with your “mites”?) Write down one weakness you would like the Lord to help you with. Write down what you could do to try to overcome that weakness with the ability you have at this moment. Ask the Lord to empower your efforts.

Notes

[1] Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth, What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003), 24, 72; italics in the original.

[2] Sebastian Kipman, “15 Highly Successful People Who Failed on Their Way to Success,” Lifehack, updated March 2, 2021, https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/15-highly-successful-people-who-failed-their-way-success.html.

[3] Thomas S. Monson, “Doubt Not, Fear Not” (commencement address, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, April 24, 2003).

[4] Kevin J Worthen, “Fear Not” (Brigham Young University devotional, September 12, 2017), 2–3, speeches.byu.edu.

[5] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear,” Ensign, May 2017, 106–7.

[6] Baker and Stauth, What Happy People Know, 80, 107–8.

[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign, May 2017, 41; italics added.

[8] True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004), 86; italics added. See also John 5:30.

[9] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him,” Ensign, November 2011, 20; italics added.

[10] Neal A. Maxwell, “Willing to Submit,” Ensign, May 1985, 71–72; italics added.

[11] Alice T. Clark, “Humility,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 1:663; italics added.

[12] Thanh_min, “The Elephant Rope,” Medium, April 8, 2017, https://medium.com/motivationapp/the-elephant-rope-c22ee790a226.

[13] Jeffrey R. Holland, “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You,” Ensign, May 2016, 125–26.

[14] Cassy Budd, “On Failing and Finishing” (Brigham Young University devotional, February 14, 2017), 3, speeches.byu.edu.

[15] Maylarie Ostler, email message to author, February 20, 2020; italics added.

[16] Quoted in Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 64.

[17] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Pride and the Priesthood,” Ensign, November 2010, 58.

[18] Neil L. Andersen, “You Know Enough,” Ensign, November 2008, 13.

[19] Nelson, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ,” 42, 41.