You Still Matter — Even If You Feel Like a Mess

The story that silenced that inner nagging voice

For years, I felt like a fraud.

People might say nice things to me. But inside I was quietly falling apart. Public speaking? I’d feel sick for days. Social settings? I’d lie awake replaying every awkward moment.

From the outside, I looked like I had it together. On the inside, I was anxious, insecure, and worn thin. And it wasn’t for lack of trying.

I devoured the self-help books. Drowned in podcasts. Wrote down affirmations like:

• I am enough
• I’m strong
• I’ve got this

But some quiet voice in me always whispered back:

Not quite

Not fully

Not really

Here’s the problem with most advice on self-worth:

It tells you to build confidence on a foundation that’s cracked. But if you’ve got regrets, flaws, and parts of your story you wish you could rewrite? No amount of pep-talk plaster will hold.

Your soul’s too honest for that.

So I want to offer something deeper. Not a pep talk. Not a formula. But a story. Jesus once told this:

A woman has ten silver coins. She loses one. She doesn’t shrug and say, “Well, I’ve still got nine.” She lights a lamp. Turns the house upside down. Sweeps every corner. She doesn’t stop searching until she finds it.

And when she does? She doesn’t scold the coin. She doesn’t blame herself for losing it. She throws a party.

Jesus says: That’s what God is like.

And something about that cracked me open. Because I’d spent my life trying to prove I was valuable — by being useful, polished, impressive. By holding everything and everyone together.

But this story changed all that.

It told me:

→ You don’t earn your worth by performing.
→ You don’t lose your worth when you mess up.
→ You are valuable. Period.

Even when you’re lost. Even when you’re buried under life’s mess. Even when you feel like a disaster.

You still matter.

But let’s be honest: Believing this isn’t easy.

It’s one thing to read the story. Another to let it rewrite yours.

Because the voice that says “you’re not enough” isn’t just loud — it’s familiar. It’s been whispering from the shadows for years. Maybe decades.

And the ache that brought you here? It might not be weakness. It might be invitation.

There’s this wild news story I keep thinking about.

A woman lost her engagement ring — a diamond her husband gave her before he passed away. One day, it slipped off and flushed down the toilet.

Gone.

She hired professionals to search the sewage tanks. They sifted through 12,000 gallons of waste.

Why?

Because it wasn’t just a ring. It held memory. Meaning. Story.

And when they found it?

Still priceless. Not because it was shiny. Because it was hers.

That’s you.

You are not defined by your grime. Or your chapter. Or how long you’ve felt disconnected.

You are defined by the One who refuses to stop looking for you.

And unlike that woman — God never fails in His search.

Here are 3 truths that rewired how I see myself:

1. God is already looking for you.

You thought you were doing the seeking — praying, doubting, journaling?

What if the stirring inside is actually Him?

You don’t have to clean up first. You don’t have to chase harder. He’s already calling your name.

Even if you haven’t prayed in years. Even if you don’t know what you believe right now. He hasn’t stopped.

2. Your mess doesn’t cancel your value.

He sees your regret. Your past. Your patterns.

And still — He calls you treasure. Like the diamond ring buried in sewage. Still worth everything.

You are not a lost cause. You are a loved cause.

3. Your value has already been proven.

You want proof?

Look at the cross.

God didn’t pay that price because you earned it. He did it because He believes you’re worth it.

Not one day.
Not if you “get it together.”
Now. As you are.

So when the inner critic rises again… When you feel invisible. Or not enough. Or too much. When you wonder if your life is making any kind of dent at all…

Come back to the story.

You’re the coin. God is the woman. And no amount of lostness changes your value.

Let this change how you live.

Not with brittle positivity or fake smiles. But with a steady, quiet strength.

The kind that walks into Monday with peace.
The kind that shows up for your people with presence.
The kind that knows—

You are loved.
You are held.
You are still worth finding.

That kind of worth?

It’s been yours the whole time.

Maybe now… you’re ready to believe it.

Weekly soul food for people who are tired of surface-level living. Get your little nudge here.