Are We Really Enough??

Let’s take a step back in time, shall we?

I remember sitting in a pew as a young girl, maybe around the age 13 or so, as the words caught my ears and settled in my heart. I don’t remember the exact words spoken, but it was a phrase I was quite familiar with growing up in the church. A phrase I would hear over and over again as I sat in church pews, chairs or just gathered with friends. At that time, I didn’t fully understand the words spoken.  Not at 13, not at 16, 21, or even 25. But somewhere along my journey I began to understand them better as I began to know God better.

“We all fall short…”

There is typically more that follows this phrase but it seemed to always stop there for me. I can’t quite explain why my heart wouldn’t hear anything further. I have talked about being a rule follower before, so it could be my proclivity to “being good”? Nonetheless that is where it stopped for me and for a long time this phrase settled in my heart as “I will never measure up, I am not worthy, I am not good enough.” And that is what began replaying in my head.

Now here’s the thing, those words are true. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 (NIV). When we read this verse or hear it in a sermon, we are asked to look our depravity in the face. Some of us need this. We need to look at our sin head on and confront it. It should help us to see our need for a Savior. But I tend to have reservations about calling one to recognize their depravity. Because, I know there is someone out there who feels the weight of those words and they pick up that weight and carry it themselves. And I know that carrying that weight by their own volition will send them into a spiral. They will either give up under the weight, “If I can never measure up then what is the point?” Or strive harder, “If I am not good enough then I will try harder, do more, be better.” I know this because I have been that person, and I have been on both ends of the spectrum.

I missed the second half of this truth. For a long time… I missed it. I plead with you now to listen to what I am about to share next. Let this truth settle in your heart, maybe in a fresh and new way.

“And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:24 (NIV) [emphasis mine]

That’s it right there! We fall short yes, but we are enough! You are enough because Jesus made you enough. And this truth, it changed my life.

So let’s fast forward to today...

That phrase “You are enough”, it has carried me through so many trials. It has been my mantra, my go to phrase for probably the last 5-6 years. When I start to slip into to one of those modes, either giving up or striving harder, this phrase serves as a reminder that Jesus calls me, “enough” and I need only to rest in Him.

I have seen this phrase start popping up again around the Christian blog-o-sphere and it is more so being written about in a negative light. The critique I have seen charges, “I am NOT enough,” and it is followed up with, “only Jesus is.” (This is true. What Jesus did though, made us enough.) It urged the Christian reader to no longer use this phrase and tagged it as “worldly”. After reading some of these critiques, it brought me right back to that place as a young girl, teenager and young adult. That place of “If I am not enough then I must try harder.”

What we must remember though, is this... There is no condemnation in Christ!

As with most things, I dug a little deeper. I did have this small moment of panic that maybe I was believing another lie. But this phrase, “You are enough”, it had gotten me through so much. God gave me that nugget when I needed it most and He used it to pull me out of a pit. So then… Was it wrong?

I asked God to show me.  And you know, you can do that too!! Never be afraid to ask and seek.  God is not afraid of our questions.  When you seek Him earnestly, you will find Him! “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 (NIV)

I’d like to share with you what I believe God said to me (in our own little way of communicating).

“You are enough. Everything you have poured out at the end of the day, is enough. Just like the woman who gave her two pennies, you are enough.”

And I thank God for it! Friends, we must test and prove everything. When we ask God to reveal Himself for us, He does.

“But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”” Mark 12: 42-44 (NIV)

Side note: I’d like to point out that shortly before this verse in Mark, Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Ch.12 V. 30, NIV) So when God tells me that at the end of each day, everything that I have poured out is enough, I believe him. Each day, I give it everything I’ve got and He calls it enough. Because, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus!”

Because He is enough, He has made you enough.     

You, my friend, ARE enough!

Post by: Jimmie Lee DiIanni