When You Feel Like You’re Not Enough
The Paraclete at Periapsis
There are moments when life feels like a never-ending orbit, a relentless cycle where every effort to rise is met with gravity pulling you back down. You push, you strive, you pour out everything you have, yet nothing seems to break the cycle. You look around and the voices of inadequacy close in, telling you that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never measure up.
If you’ve been there, you know it’s more than a bad day. It’s a spiritual suffocation, a heaviness that sits in your chest and makes every breath feel like a battle. It is the weight of feeling like you are not enough, like the sum of all your broken pieces could never amount to anything worthy. And if you let it, that lie will not just visit, it will take up residence, shaping the way you see yourself and distorting the truth of who you are.
But there is another voice. A voice that breaks through the static of self, doubt and reminds you of a deeper reality. It is the voice of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the One who comes alongside. Jesus promised, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). This Helper is not a fleeting comfort, He is the abiding presence of God Himself, breathing life into the places where you feel like you cannot go on.
In the language of space and orbit, there is a term called “periapsis.” It is the point where an object comes closest to the celestial body it orbits. It is the moment of greatest proximity, the place where distance is reduced to its minimum, where nearness becomes tangible. Spiritually, periapsis is that sacred moment when you come to the end of yourself and collide with the fullness of God’s presence. It is the place where your inadequacy meets His sufficiency, where your emptiness encounters His overflow.
Paul understood this. He wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul wasn’t romanticizing his struggles, he was embracing the truth of periapsis. He knew that the very weakness that seemed to disqualify him was, in fact, the open door for the Paraclete to move in power.
When you feel like you are not enough, the world will tell you to dig deeper, to muster strength you do not have, to put on a brave face and fake it until you make it. But the Kingdom offers a different path. Instead of striving, it calls you to surrender. Instead of faking it, it invites you to faith it, to trust that when you are at your lowest, God is drawing you closest.
This is not about passivity or spiritual laziness. It is about recognizing that true strength is not found in self-reliance but in divine dependence. The Helper is not just a comforter for the weak, He is the power source for the surrendered. He comes alongside not to prop you up in your own strength but to infuse you with His.
When you find yourself at spiritual periapsis, when you have nothing left to give and nowhere else to turn, you are in the perfect position for a divine encounter. It is in this place of raw vulnerability that the Paraclete does His deepest work. He does not merely patch the cracks, He rebuilds the foundation. He does not just soothe your wounds, He transforms your scars into stories of His glory.
So if you are in that place today, empty, tired, feeling like nothing you do will ever be enough, stop striving. Lean into the Helper. Let the Paraclete pull you into the closest orbit of the Father’s love. You may feel like you are not enough, but He is. You may have reached the end of yourself, but you have not reached the end of Him. And in that sacred space, the power of God will not just meet you, it will carry you.
If you feel led to partner with what God is doing through this ministry, we invite you to sow into this work as the Spirit leads. Your generosity helps us continue to share His love and truth with others. There is no obligation only an opportunity to join in what God is building. Thank you for considering being a part of this journey.
Member discussion