Enough

Every day, almost without exception, the thoughts murmur through my mind.  Scoffing.  Criticizing.  Accusing.  “You aren’t good enough.  You aren’t wise enough.  You aren’t holy enough.  Why don’t you just give up?  After all these years of trying and struggling to become a better person, what do you have to show for yourself?  How much progress have you made?  Are you any more mature or godly today than you were yesterday?  Just admit it:  you will never be enough.”

It’s like I have this cup.  A cup that I made with my own hands.  It is cracked and stained and ugly.  It once brimmed with idealistic hopes and ambitious aspirations.  Now, there is nothing in it.  It has been drained by the harsh realities of just trying to survive this life.  A life that sometimes includes disease, difficulties, disappointments, discouragement.  My cup is empty.  I have nothing to offer.¹  The striving.  The efforts and energy that never seems to amount to anything.  Is it true?  Will it ever be enough?  Will I ever be enough?

Once again, as I have done so many times before, I come before the Lord, offering Him my empty cup.  And El Shaddai², the All-Sufficient One, fills it with Himself.

His Grace is enough.

I give Him my weakness and inability and failures, and what does He give me in return?  He doesn’t sigh or roll His eyes or take a deep breath, thinking, “When will she ever get it right?”  No, He gives me His grace. As one Bible scholar describes it,

“There’s a single word that encompasses all the riches we find in Christ: grace.  What a magnificent word it is!  It is used more than 150 times in the New Testament to speak of divine favor bestowed on undeserving people.  It is the means by which we receive every physical and spiritual blessing.”³

I am one of those undeserving people.  I have done nothing to earn His acceptance of me.  And somehow, amazingly, He pours out His grace into my life, filling my empty cup day by day with His divine favor.  Because of His grace, I find forgiveness for my deficiencies.  Freedom from punishment and condemnation.  The peace I long to find.  As paradoxical as it sounds, I can actually boast in my weaknesses, because then it is Christ’s power that is on display in me.  His grace is sufficient.⁴

His Word is enough.

I bring Him my confusion, and He gives me wisdom.⁵ There are so many theories and opinions and human philosophies – bombarding voices that attempt to distract and mislead and disorient.  It is only in His Word that I find the truth.⁶

His Law, that voice I choose to hear and believe . . . that law is “perfect.”⁷

“The Greek word translated ‘perfect’ speaks of completeness or wholeness . . . God’s Word is sufficient, comprehensive, completely without error, and able to meet every need and fulfill the desire of every heart.⁸” 

His Law is not oppressive or restrictive.  He doesn’t force me to obey it.  But oh, how I want to!  What worldly perspective has the power to revive my soul?⁹  Is there any other regulation that could possibly give freedom?¹⁰  

Other laws say do, try, be. 

God’s Law says done, forgiven, believe. 

Following His Law promises wisdom, joy and reward.¹¹  Oh, how I love the peace that comes from His Law!¹²

His work was enough.

When all I have to offer are my imperfect efforts and my empty cup, He reminds me that I do not need to perform.¹³  He doesn’t expect me to be “good enough.”  If I need to be the loving wife who never frustrates her husband, the doting mother who never feels impatient with her children, the perfect housekeeper who never misses a spot, the faithful friend, sister, daughter who never disappoints . . . if I need to do and be these things in order for God to love me, then Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough.  

And yet, His work was enough.  When He died on the cross, He didn’t say, “I did My part; now you do yours.”  No, He cried out, “It is finished.”¹⁴  My best attempts and heartiest endeavors can add nothing to the work He has already done.  He doesn’t need my effort; I need His mercy!¹⁵  How I praise Him for His completed work!

He is enough.

Those accusing thoughts in my mind?  They are not true.  My cup, the one that is cracked and stained and empty, I don’t have that cup anymore.  I have a new one.  One that He has given me.  One that overflows!¹⁶  It overflows with hope and joy and peace!  

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”¹⁷  He promises that I have all I need, all the time, for all I do!¹⁸   Because of El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One, I lack nothing.  He is enough.

Footnotes:

1.             Jeremiah 2:13 - "For My people have committed two evils : They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

2.             Genesis 17:1 – “. . . the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Walk with me . . .” (Common English Bible translation)

3.             Our Sufficiency in Christ by John MacArthur, Jr., p. 243

4.             2 Corinthians 12:9 – "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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”

5.             James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

6.             John 17:17 – “Sanctify them by your truth; Your word is truth.”

7.             Psalm 19:7a – “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”  Also, James 1:25 - But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.”

8.             Our Sufficiency in Christ by John MacArthur, Jr., p. 99

9.             Psalm 19:7a

10.          James 1:25

11.          Psalm 19:7b, 8, 11b - The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. . . in keeping them there is great reward.

12.          Psalm 119:165 – “Great peace have they who love your love, and nothing can make them stumble.”

13.          Titus 3:5 – “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.”

14.          John 19:30 – “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

15.          Romans 9:16 – “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

16.          Psalm 23:5 - You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

17.          Psalm 73:26

18.          2 Corinthians 9:8 – “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”