Enough

“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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

One Wednesday, in the middle of worship at a Wesley service, someone tapped me on the shoulder to share a word they felt God had for me. She looked at me and told me God wanted me to know that I am “enough.” As she continued talking, I was flattered but I can’t lie, my first thought was “hmm, not really struggling with self confidence or wondering about my worth right now and I don’t think this is for me.” After I turned back around, I was immediately met with a feeling. Picture you, talking back to your grandma and she gives the “who do you think you are” look. That’s how I felt God was looking at me.
 
So I readjusted my mindset and settled in. “Okay God, what does ‘enough’ mean. Open my ears.” I began to run through my day. My day started with skipping both of my classes, followed by not opening my laptop, and not leaving my house before 7 PM. Throughout the entire day, I was filled with anxiety and guilt for not being proactive or having a full schedule and I began to realize throughout this entire day, I had been feeling like I was not enough. On my days where I feel like I don’t contribute anything, this is usually where my head ends up. In today’s world, we are often conditioned to require constant entertainment or preoccupy our minds with the impossible expectations of what our lives should look like; we should be having fun and experiencing new things every second of every day.

So I asked myself again, “Enough. When I hear this word what do I think?”
 
Each day is enough, whether I fill my day with praise, rest, meaningless tasks, or I don’t leave my house. Each day is enough for God. I, in my rawest, purest form, with nothing to my name, am enough. I invite you to rest. Rest in the knowledge of knowing that because of who God is, we don’t have to carry the pressure of being enough. God never intended us to. The purpose of Jesus carrying the weight of the cross up Calvary hill was so that we get to live in freedom and the weight of our sin is not ours to bear. Just as God is enough for me, I ,in my brokenness and laziness and doubt, am enough for God. On my days where I contribute nothing and on my days where my schedule is full; on my days where I have thoughts of anxiety, and on the days where I feel the earth is my oyster and it is made for me. I am enough. Rest in the knowledge that because God is who He says he is, there is no perfect standard we have to reach. Because God is who He says he is, we get to acknowledge our brokenness, but rejoice in the fact that God comes and meets us where we are and we get to live through Christ. Our hearts can be transformed and all God asks of us is that we give everyday to Him. In everyday, I have a choice to remember that truth and living in the joy of knowing that the God that created every human, every animal, every planet, and every breath; the God that has moved mountains and parted the seas and performed countless miracles looks at me with nothing to my name and calls me His. He loves me enough to use me and use every second, every minute, every day for His glory. And as long as I continue to show up in pursuit of Him, He will never leave me wondering if I am enough or not. He will fill me with the truth of His word, that I am enough, not because of what I accomplish or who I am or what I do, but because of who He is.

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. Exalt the Lord with me, And let’s exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He met me more than half way and answered me, And rescued me from all my anxious fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed. This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.” - Psalm 34:1-6

Author | Jessie Thomas