Outside in the hallway, he sat on a lonely bench with his head in his hands. “How could I not be good enough,” he kept asking himself. How was this possible? He was qualified he had perfect references. How could they tell him he wasn’t good enough?

It’s a tragedy played out in the lives of people every day. People who worked hard, who set high standards for themselves, and achieved great personal goals, only to see that all their preparation and all their anticipation was useless because the decision was, “You’re not good enough.”

How tragic it is to hear those words! How tragic it is to be told by a friend that you haven’t been good enough, or to be told by a child or a sibling that you didn’t measure up. It’s the kind of thing that destroys confidence, the kind of thing that drives a person to depression and the kind of thing that makes achieving goals seem trivial. Why bother trying if I’ll never be good enough?

We could say that our lives are often caught up in trying to impress. Whether it’s the young woman who, because her father gave away very little of his love to her, dresses to gain the attention of the opposite gender, or it’s the young college graduate who works 70 hour weeks because he’s in competition with 10 others for the same solitary promotion, we often live our lives to impress others. It’s this natural inclination we have to hold up our credentials before the world, to prove to them that we are indeed good enough, that we are worthy to be called “successful.” It’s the American dream.

And God says, “you’ve got to do better.” God demands more. He demands more offerings, “But I’m on a fixed income.” God demands more time, “But I already volunteer.” God demands more mission work, “But I’m already sharing my faith.” Friends, it’s not good enough. You’re not good enough. And Jesus looks you and me straight in the eye, he stares into the depths our hearts and declares, “Children, it is a hard thing to get into God’s kingdom! It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle.”

Wow.

With man, this is impossible. But not with God. With God there is a possible impossible. It starts and ends with Christ. When we realize that we can’t do it on our own, then we are right where God wants us to be. When we realize that our superficial definition of goodness doesn’t pass muster, then we understand our predicament and God can save us. If God is to rescue us, we must be ones who need to be rescued. Understand that when we focus on our own efforts, our own work, we cannot be saved. It is only when we despair of ourselves, when we throw our hands up in the air and say with the disciples, “Then who can be saved!” that Christ can come to our aid.

And then what is impossible for us becomes possible.