Enough

I have always been an avid observer of life’s people-zoo.  It’s probably one of the reasons why I enjoyed working in a high school. And why sitting in the airport is a fun experience for me.  Because people are funny.  I mean ha-ha funny, as well as quirky , different, confusing, and complex.  But, in all my observations, I have seen a few common threads.

My husband used to be in an organization that sponsored the fair in our town.  Being his wife, I was asked to join the spouse’s club which raised money through a food booth at the fair.  Now, before you get scared – I didn’t actually COOK the food, but the sweet ladies I served with did – homemade chili and veggie soup, along with all the kinds of typical fair food. This gave me occasion to meet and get to know the carnival workers – they called themselves Carnies – who traveled with the fair.   Now, these folks were nomadic people who floated from town to town with the fair, taking their families in tow.  These were people unlike any I have ever met.  But, let me tell you, those Carny moms were so excited to serve their kids our homemade vegetable soup.  Apparently, veggies are not typically on the menu at any fair, anywhere.  It struck me that moms everywhere are concerned about getting the right foods in their kids – regardless of our life circumstances, we are concerned about whether the ones we love have enough.

I use this example to illustrate the fact that, no matter what our background, creed, or lifestyle, people have similar deep rooted desires. And God knows these desires – I am reminded of the verse in Matthew 7:  “You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?  Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” God knows our need and he knows how to answer it perfectly.

But it occurs to me that an even more common desire of the heart, a second-cousin to the thought, “Do they have enough” is the age old question – “Am I enough.”  It doesn’t take a very in-depth search of modern cultural values to see how prevalent  this desire is. The world tells us- “Be the best,”  “Reach for the stars,”  “Maximize your potential.”

I’m not sure that these messages are per se BAD as long as they are not followed by a sly OR ELSE.

The “Be the best” message becomes “Be the best OR ELSE, no one will love you.”  The “Reach for the stars” quip becomes “Reach for those stars OR ELSE  you won’t be enough.”   And this is the exact opposite of what God tells us is the truth.

The enemy tells us –  Sister, you got a good gift FIRST and then, if you use it correctly, then, you will be loved.    But , God tells us – I loved you FIRST and gave you good gifts SECOND.  Romans tells us “God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8  So when we were at our weakest, our most flawed, our WORST – God loved us.

God says – you are enough just because you are mine.

So, friends, I have 2 prayers for us.  First, I pray that we will  approach the walking wounded of this world with the REAL message of what God did for us.  That we will remember when we were the walking wounded ourselves and how God loved us simply because we are his.   Second, I pray that we will have the confidence to know we are enough – not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of who He is and what He did. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.