By: Lauren Thomas
“You are enough” is a popular, feel-good piece of encouragement that I hear shared a lot.
But I take issue with this phrase on two levels.
First, I take issue with it practically. Because, quite frankly, I am not enough! I am not patient enough. I am not extraverted enough. Though I would love to always be great at everything, I often find myself needing to address areas of weakness in my life. And usually, the feeling of not being enough stems from the reality that I don’t have enough! I never seem to have enough time, enough resources. I definitely don’t seem to have enough energy. Do you relate?
But here’s some good news. God has enough. And His enough is available to us through Jesus Christ! Let me remind you through Scripture:
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
This is just one small phrase Paul dropped to the Philippians in closing his letter to them. But I see so many places through the Bible that bear testament to this truth: God has enough, more than enough! In 1 Kings 17:8-16 the prophet Elijah prayed and God caused a widow’s meager store of oil and flour to somehow be enough to keep her and her son alive through a long draught. In 2 Kings 4, a widow didn’t have enough to pay off creditors and keep her children from being sold off as slaves. But Elisha prayed and God caused the woman’s oil to be multiplied, allowing her a side hustle of selling oil, enough oil to pay off those debts. I also think of the gospel accounts of Jesus feeding multitudes and always having more than enough leftover every time! God is the God of enough! God is the God of more than enough!
And that brings me to my second issue with the phrase, “you are enough.” This one is theological. And it also has good news to go with it. You are not enough. If you were, you wouldn’t need the sacrifice of Jesus. And if you didn’t need the sacrifice of Jesus, it would be cruel of God to cause him to endure what he faced. Instead, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, “it is finished,” meaning, the sacrifice was enough (see John 19:30). The good news here is that when we recognize that we are not enough, it puts us in a position of humility to receive by faith the gift of salvation through Jesus and His sacrifice! I’m so glad I’m not enough! Jesus is enough for me! Jesus is more than enough for me!
Psalm 23:1 (NLT)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
When Jesus is our Savior and Lord, we truly do have all that we need!
So next time you don’t feel like you’re enough, remember, that’s a good thing, because Jesus IS! And God has everything you need.
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