There are some sermons that come out of study, and some that come out of history, and some that come out of doctrine…
But every once in a while, a sermon comes out of the quiet places inside the soul. The places where you don’t speak out loud. The places you don’t even write down. The places where you just sit with God and hope He doesn’t see how much you’re hiding.
This is one of those sermons.
It’s one for the people who know what it means to walk into a room full of believers and still feel like you’re not enough. For the people who know how to sing the songs, read the Scriptures, pray the prayers — and still carry a quiet ache that says, “If God really knew me… He wouldn’t want me.”
It’s for the ones who smile easily, but sleep restlessly.
The ones who serve faithfully, but feel like frauds.
The ones who look put-together in public, but undone in private.
The ones who compare themselves to everybody else and come up short.
The ones who carry a memory they can’t shake, a failure they can’t fix, a shame they can’t cover.
It’s for the ones who don’t feel worthy.
And if that’s you — you’re not alone.
Not by a long shot.
Isaiah 43 opens with some of the most intimate words God ever spoke. Not to kings or prophets. Not to saints or heroes. Not to the strong. Not to the confident.
But to a broken nation who had failed Him. Repeatedly. Publicly. Embarrassingly.
And it’s to them — to the unworthy — that God says:
> “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
you are Mine.”
(Isaiah 43:1)
When I read those words, something moves inside me.
Not because they’re poetic.
But because they’re personal.
“Fear not.”
Not because you’re strong.
Not because you’re consistent.
Not because you’re righteous.
Not because you finally got your act together.
No — fear not… because God has done something.
“I have redeemed you.”
Not, “You redeemed yourself.”
Not, “You fixed it.”
Not, “You worked hard enough.”
Not, “You made Me proud.”
But:
“I redeemed you. I stepped in. I paid for you. I fought for you. I claimed you.”
We spend so much time trying to prove that we’re enough, when God keeps telling us:
“Worthiness doesn’t come from you. It comes from Me.”
And then He says what might be the most healing sentence in the entire Old Testament:
> “I have called you by your name.”
Not by your failure.
Not by your past.
Not by your reputation.
Not by your weakness.
Not by your sin.
Not by your mistakes.
Not by the name shame calls you.
Not by the name the enemy whispers.
Not by the name you fear in your own mind.
By your name.
Your real name.
The one He gave you before the world ever broke you.
The one He still hears when you don’t feel worth hearing.
The one Jesus died to make sure you could keep.
God does not call you “Failure.”
He does not call you “Unworthy.”
He does not call you “Not enough.”
He does not call you “Disappointment.”
He calls you by your name.
And in a world where people change their identity based on performance…
in a culture where value is measured by comparison…
in a generation where worth is tied to public approval…
God steps in and says:
“You are Mine.”
Not by accident.
Not by default.
Not because nobody else wanted you.
Not because He feels obligated.
But because He chose you.
Now — if you’re younger, if you’re in that 25–40 zone — this hits a little differently than it does for older believers. Because people in their 30s don’t usually walk around thinking about eternity. Not yet.
You’re thinking about the tension between who you are and who you think you’re supposed to be.
You’re thinking about comparison.
About perfection.
About expectations.
About trying to be a good parent, a good spouse, a good employee, a good believer… and wondering if you’re doing any of it well.
People in their 30s don’t struggle with nostalgia — they struggle with pressure.
People in their 30s don’t feel like failures at the end of the race — they feel like failures in the middle of it.
They’re not looking back at mistakes — they’re living inside them.
This is exactly why this message matters so much for you.
Because when God says, “You are Mine,” He’s speaking into the competition, the fear of not measuring up, the worry that everybody else is further along than you are, the voice that says you should be more, do more, know more, fix more, achieve more, be better.
God’s love doesn’t wait for you to win anything.
It meets you exactly where you’re losing.
That’s why the refrain of this sermon is so simple and so vital:
> Grace begins where your confidence ends.
As long as you think you’re enough, you won’t understand grace.
As long as you think you can earn God’s approval, you won’t trust His love.
As long as you think worthiness comes from performance, you’ll never feel worthy enough.
It’s when you run out of confidence —
when you run out of excuses —
when you run out of your own strength —
when you run out of explanations —
when you run out of the ability to pretend —
that grace takes over.
“Grace begins where your confidence ends.”
And that’s where some of you are right now.
Do you remember that moment in Mark 1?
The leper comes to Jesus — a man who has spent years being told that he’s unworthy of touch, unworthy of community, unworthy of love, unworthy of being seen.
And he falls on his knees and says:
> “If You are willing…”
Do you hear the ache in that question?
He doesn’t doubt Jesus’ power.
He doubts His desire.
He wonders if Jesus would want someone like him.
He wonders if he’s worth the trouble.
He wonders if he’s too far gone.
He wonders if the holy would want anything to do with what he has become.
That’s what unworthiness does — it rewrites the heart’s questions.
Not:
“Can God?”
But:
“Would He want me?”
And Jesus, without hesitation… without distance… without disgust… without hesitation…
Touches him.
Jesus touches the untouchable.
Jesus loves the unlovable.
Jesus calls the unworthy by a new name.
Jesus breaks the lie of shame.
And then Jesus answers the question that every unworthy heart asks:
> “I am willing.”
God is not reluctant about you.
God is not tired of you.
God is not second-guessing you.
God is not halfway invested in you.
God is not loving you out of obligation.
He is willing.
Your unworthiness does not change His willingness.
And if you don’t hear anything else in this message, hear this:
> Your worth is not measured by your performance.
It’s measured by His possession.
“You are Mine.”
When you don’t feel worthy…
when you don’t feel enough…
when you don’t feel lovable…
when you don’t feel spiritual…
when you don’t feel confident…
God isn’t looking for proof.
He’s looking at you.
And He calls you by your name.
He says:
“You are Mine.”
You may not feel worthy —
but you are wanted.
You are chosen.
You are loved.
You are held.
You are redeemed.
You are named.
You are His.
And grace…
the real kind…
the kind that heals, restores, lifts, renews…
that grace always begins…
where your confidence ends.
---
here’s a reason Isaiah begins this chapter with the words, “Fear not.”
It is God’s most repeated command in the entire Bible — not because the world isn’t frightening, but because we are so easily afraid of the wrong things.
Some fear failure.
Some fear rejection.
Some fear disappointing God.
Some fear not meeting expectations.
Some fear being “found out.”
Some fear that their spiritual life is too weak, too inconsistent, too messy, too fragile.
But the deepest fear — the one that Isaiah is addressing — is the fear of not being worthy of God’s love.
The fear that if God really sees you, He’ll step back.
The fear that if God really knows you, He’ll reconsider.
The fear that if God really peers into your soul, He’ll see too much — the brokenness, the inconsistency, the hidden struggles, the failures you never talk about — and He’ll decide you’re not worth the effort.
That fear is older than you are.
It’s rooted in Eden, after the first sin, when Adam and Eve did the most human thing imaginable:
They hid.
They hid from God —
not because they stopped believing in Him,
but because they didn’t believe they were worthy to stand before Him anymore.
Shame always makes you hide from the One who can heal you most.
Isaiah 43 is God stepping into the garden of your fear and saying,
“Come out.
I see you.
And you are still Mine.”
But here’s what’s remarkable about Isaiah 43:
God doesn’t wait to call you “Mine” until after you’re restored.
He calls you “Mine” while you’re still broken.
Most of us live with an “if/then” version of worthiness.
If I pray more…
If I stop struggling…
If I read more Scripture…
If I get my life together…
If I clean up my habits…
If I become more spiritual…
If I stop disappointing people…
If I fix this part of my story…
If I stop falling…
Then God will love me.
But Isaiah 43 flips that upside down.
God doesn’t say, “If you are Mine, then I will redeem you.”
He says, “I have redeemed you — therefore, you are Mine.”
Your identity does not follow your performance.
Your identity follows His redemption.
This is why so many believers live without joy —
they’re trying to earn what God has already given.
You cannot experience the freedom of grace
while you’re still trying to prove you deserve it.
“Fear not… I have redeemed you.”
This is not God making excuses for you.
It is God making a claim on you.
And because redemption is His work, not yours, your worthiness is not based on:
your past
your success
your failures
your consistency
your spiritual maturity
your emotional stability
your Bible knowledge
your habits
your performance
your perfection
Your worth is based on His redemption alone.
Now, let’s keep moving through Isaiah 43.
After God declares ownership — “You are Mine” — He speaks directly into the suffering that makes us feel unworthy.
> “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…”
(Isaiah 43:2)
Have you noticed He doesn’t say, “If you pass through the waters”?
He says, when.
Faith does not exempt you from deep water.
Belief does not remove fire from your life.
Trust does not prevent pressure, fear, doubt, or struggle.
Even the redeemed walk through storms.
Why?
Because God is not trying to protect you from every hardship.
He is trying to protect you from facing it alone.
When you feel unworthy, you assume God withdraws.
You assume He backs away until you fix yourself.
You assume He is distant until you “get better.”
But Isaiah 43 says the very opposite:
When you walk through the river, God walks into it with you.
When you enter the fire, God enters the flames beside you.
When you feel overwhelmed, God moves closer, not farther.
Listen to the promise:
> “…the rivers will not overflow you.”
God doesn’t just accompany you —
He limits what can reach you.
He sets boundaries on the flood.
He sets a thermostat on the fire.
He sets a line the enemy cannot cross.
He sets a limit on the storm.
He sets a boundary on what your trial can do to you.
Just because the water rises doesn’t mean it will drown you.
Just because the fire burns doesn’t mean it will consume you.
Just because you feel overwhelmed doesn’t mean God has abandoned you.
Your feelings of unworthiness do not dictate His faithfulness.
And then God says something even more astonishing, something that many Christians read too quickly and miss the weight of:
> “Because you are precious in My sight…”
(Isaiah 43:4)
Precious.
That’s a word we reserve for infants, or heirlooms, or wedding rings, or photographs tucked in Bibles.
We don’t use it for broken people.
We don’t use it for sinners.
We don’t use it for wanderers.
We don’t use it for the inconsistent, the wounded, the ashamed.
Yet God does.
“Precious.”
Not because you performed well.
Not because you lived up to expectations.
Not because you did everything right.
You are precious because He sees you with the eyes of a Father.
And here’s where we begin to crack open the deeper spiritual truth:
You don’t feel worthy because you are looking at yourself through the eyes of shame.
But God sees you through the eyes of love.
Shame says, “Look at what you’ve done.”
God says, “Look at what I’ve done for you.”
Shame says, “Look at who you are not.”
God says, “Look at who you are to Me.”
Shame says, “You failed.”
God says, “You’re Mine.”
Shame says, “You don’t deserve grace.”
God says, “Grace begins where your confidence ends.”
Do you see why this message is so important?
Because so many people — especially in their 20s, 30s, and 40s — live with the tension of trying to be everything to everyone, trying to hold their life together, trying to keep up, trying not to disappoint anyone.
And in that pressure cooker of adulthood, unworthiness grows quietly.
You don’t say it out loud, but it whispers through your heart:
“Why hasn’t God helped me more?”
“Why do I keep struggling with the same issues?”
“Why can’t I break this habit?”
“Why am I not further along spiritually?”
“Why do I feel so small next to other believers?”
“Why do I stumble so much?”
“Why can’t I be a better spouse, parent, Christian, friend?”
“Why do I keep letting people down?”
And then the conclusion forms in your mind — not from Scripture, not from truth, but from exhaustion:
“Maybe I’m not worthy of more.”
Isaiah 43 dismantles that lie.
Not softly.
Not gently.
But forcefully.
“You are precious.”
“You are honored.”
“I love you.”
“You are Mine.”
And what God loves, God defends.
What God claims, God keeps.
What God redeems, God restores.
Even when you don’t feel worthy.
Even when you feel tired.
Even when you feel defeated.
Even when you feel left behind.
Even when you feel lost.
Even when you feel unspiritual.
Even when you feel unseen.
Even when you feel ashamed.
God’s love is not built on your worthiness.
Your worthiness is built on His love.
This is why David wrote in Psalm 103 — the echo text of this sermon:
> “He does not treat us as our sins deserve.”
If God treated you based on your worthiness, you would be abandoned.
If God treated you based on your performance, you would be rejected.
If God treated you based on your record, you would be condemned.
But He does not treat you according to your sins.
He treats you according to His love.
And His love is not fragile.
It is not conditional.
It is not temporary.
It does not depend on how well you perform this week.
It does not rise and fall with your faithfulness.
It does not match your consistency.
It does not mirror your self-confidence.
It does not wait for you to become strong.
Grace begins where your confidence ends.
And if your confidence has been ending lately —
if you’re weary, disappointed, frustrated, running out of spiritual strength —
you are exactly where grace does its best work.
You are in the perfect position for God to call you by your name again.
You are Mine.
This is the truth that breaks shame.
This is the truth that silences fear.
This is the truth that redirects identity.
This is the truth that heals the soul.
This is the truth that turns unworthy people into worshipers.
And this is the truth that prepares us for the closing movement of the sermon — where we will walk right into the center of God’s heart in Isaiah 43 and discover what it means to live, breathe, pray, and walk as someone who is loved by name.
---
We’ve walked through the opening lines of Isaiah 43, but now we’re coming into the part of the passage where God isn’t just speaking identity into you — He’s speaking purpose over you.
And this is important, because worthiness is not just about being loved — it’s about being called.
You see, shame wants you to believe that God tolerates you.
Grace wants you to know that God appoints you.
Shame says, “You don’t belong.”
Grace says, “You are Mine.”
Shame says, “Sit down — you have nothing to offer.”
Grace says, “Stand up — I’ve redeemed you for a reason.”
And in Isaiah 43, God begins unveiling that reason:
> “Everyone who is called by My name,
whom I have created for My glory…”
(Isaiah 43:7)
This is where the entire conversation shifts.
You don’t feel worthy because you’ve been measuring yourself by your failures, your emotions, your inconsistencies, your history, your humanity.
But God measures you by something else entirely:
His glory.
Not your achievement.
Not your perfection.
Not your talent.
Not your résumé.
Not your track record.
Not your performance.
His glory.
Which means:
You were created for something you cannot ruin.
Your sin can wound you.
Your shame can cripple you.
Your failures can discourage you.
Your past can weigh on you.
But none of it can destroy what God created you for.
“Whom I have created for My glory.”
He’s not talking to perfect people — He’s talking to Israel at their worst.
If God can speak glory into people who are running from Him…
who are breaking covenant…
who are questioning His love…
who are drowning in fear…
who are surrounded by enemies…
who are spiritually bruised and morally exhausted…
He can speak glory into you.
You may not feel worthy —
but you were created intentionally.
You may not feel valuable —
but you were created purposefully.
You may not feel strong —
but you were created beautifully.
And here’s the part most believers miss:
God uses unworthy people because unworthy people depend on Him.
He uses the humble, the hurting, the ashamed, the imperfect, the inconsistent…
because they know they can’t do it without Him.
The worthy feel self-sufficient.
The unworthy cling to grace.
And grace is where God loves to work.
This is why the refrain of this sermon is not just poetic —
it is spiritually diagnostic:
> “Grace begins where your confidence ends.”
If your confidence is over…
if your strength is depleted…
if your self-worth is low…
if your spiritual energy is drained…
if your inner critic is loud…
if your record is messy…
then grace is not behind you —
grace is standing at your doorstep.
This is why Isaiah 43 turns into a rescue song:
> “I will give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place…”
(Isaiah 43:3)
This sounds poetic, but in Hebrew thought, it means:
“I will trade kingdoms to keep you.”
You are not disposable.
You are not easily replaced.
You are not barely loved.
You are deeply valued.
God says, “I have paid a price for you.”
Not reluctantly.
Not resentfully.
But willingly.
And if you still wonder what you’re worth,
then look at the cross —
where the King of the universe traded Himself for you.
---
THE TENSION OF WORTHINESS
Let’s be honest — feeling unworthy doesn’t always come from sin.
Sometimes it comes from disappointment.
The job didn’t work out.
The relationship fell apart.
The dreams faded.
The plans collapsed.
The family fractured.
The faith wavered.
The confidence evaporated.
The heartbreak cut deep.
And in that pain, something inside quietly asks:
“Am I worth anything?”
Isaiah 43 is God stepping into that question and saying:
“You are worth My presence.
You are worth My protection.
You are worth My sacrifice.
You are worth My love.
You are worth My calling.
You are Mine.”
This is not sentimental language.
This is covenant language.
Chosen language.
Redeemer language.
God does not speak to you the way shame speaks to you.
Shame accuses.
God affirms.
Shame condemns.
God claims.
Shame remembers your failures.
God remembers your future.
Your worth is not based on what you’ve done or what you feel —
your worth is based on what God has spoken.
And He has spoken this over you:
“You are precious in My sight.”
If you could hear the tone of His voice when He says that…
If you could feel the warmth in those words…
If you could see the look in His eyes…
You would stop calling yourself “unworthy.”
---
THE NEW IDENTITY
So what do you do when you don’t feel worthy?
Isaiah gives us three actions — not to earn worth, but to receive identity.
1. Listen to the voice that calls you by name.
You cannot silence shame by effort.
You silence shame by truth.
The truth that says:
You are Mine.
You are redeemed.
You are precious.
You are loved.
You are wanted.
You are kept.
You are called.
Listen to that voice.
God does not whisper your identity — He declares it.
2. Walk through the waters with Him, not away from Him.
Unworthiness makes people withdraw.
Grace makes people cling.
When life overwhelms you, walk toward God — not away.
Let Him walk into the river with you.
Let Him step into the fire with you.
Let Him hold your hand in the deep places.
He never asked you to be enough.
He asked you to trust that He is.
3. Live as someone who was created for glory.
Not for guilt.
Not for comparison.
Not for religious pressure.
Not for spiritual perfectionism.
For glory.
To reflect God’s heart.
To carry His name.
To shine His love.
To stand in His presence.
To walk in His purpose.
Not because you feel worthy —
but because He has made you worthy.
---
THE GREAT REVERSAL
Let me say something that may surprise you:
God is not waiting for you to feel worthy.
He is waiting for you to believe Him.
Feelings follow belief — not the other way around.
You might say:
“I feel weak.”
God says: “You are Mine.”
You might say:
“I feel inconsistent.”
God says: “I have redeemed you.”
You might say:
“I feel ashamed.”
God says: “You are precious.”
You might say:
“I feel broken.”
God says: “I love you.”
You might say:
“I feel unworthy.”
God says: “Grace begins where your confidence ends.”
Your confidence may be ending —
but God’s love is just beginning to show you who you really are.
---
THE CLOSING MOVEMENT
And now we bring this home.
There is Someone who knows your name.
Someone who calls you by that name.
Someone who sees your whole story — not the polished version, but the whole truth — and still says:
“You belong to Me.”
You may feel unworthy.
But you are loved.
You may feel ashamed.
But you are redeemed.
You may feel weak.
But you are held.
You may feel like a failure.
But you are precious.
You may feel like you’re barely hanging on.
But you are chosen.
You may feel overlooked.
But you are seen.
You may feel lost.
But you are Mine.
If you can’t hold onto Him right now…
He will hold onto you.
If you can’t believe in yourself right now…
He believes in His calling on your life.
If you can’t see your worth right now…
He already determined it at the cross.
And when your confidence ends —
when it truly ends —
that is where His grace begins.
You don’t have to feel worthy.
You just have to believe the One who says you are.
You are Mine.
---
Appeal
There are moments in life when the hardest person to believe in… is yourself.
Moments when you look in the mirror and see everything you wish you could change.
Moments when you sit in church and quietly hope that nobody knows how fragile you really feel.
Moments when you want to lift your hands but something whispers, “Not you. You’re not worthy.”
But today, God has spoken a different word over your life.
He has called you by your name.
He has reminded you that you are His.
He has declared that you are precious, honored, loved, redeemed — not because you have earned those things, but because He has spoken them.
So here is the invitation:
If you have lived too long under the weight of shame…
If you’ve been hard on yourself…
If you’ve been believing the wrong voice…
If you’ve felt unworthy to pray, unworthy to worship, unworthy to serve, unworthy to hope…
Then today, let God’s word be louder than your wounds.
Let Him call you by your name again.
Let Him lift your head again.
Let Him restore your confidence — not in yourself, but in His grace.
If you need God to remind you who you are…
If you need Him to silence the voice of unworthiness…
If you need Him to hold you through the waters and walk with you through the fire…
Then this appeal is for you.
Just lift your heart to Him now.
Whisper His name.
Let grace meet you at the very place where your confidence has ended.
You are His.
You always have been.
You always will be.
---
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven,
Thank You for being the God who sees us, calls us, and claims us — even when we don’t feel worthy of anything at all.
Thank You for speaking identity into our confusion, dignity into our shame, mercy into our wounds, and hope into our fear.
Today we bring You the parts of our hearts that feel small, fragile, and not enough.
We bring You the memories that hurt us, the failures that follow us, the thoughts that accuse us, and the voices that tell us we do not belong.
Speak louder than those voices, Lord.
Call us by our name again.
Remind us that we are Yours — redeemed, forgiven, precious, and loved with an everlasting love.
Walk with us through the waters.
Stand with us in the fire.
Hold us when our strength runs out.
And let Your grace begin right where our confidence ends.
We rest in Your promise:
“You are Mine.”
Seal that truth in every heart today.
In the saving and restoring name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
