Enough…enough…ENOUGH!

This morning the kids and I were singing a few worship songs together to start our school day. Don’t picture it in your mind as an angelic scene: often it’s more like me singing, hoping the kids will join me. Sometimes they do but sometimes they’re also reading Dog Man.

The song returned again and again to two phrases:

I will be content in every circumstance…

And

You are Jireh, You are enough.

We sang the word “enough’ so many times, it did that weird thing words do sometimes where you look at them for so long they don’t seem like they’re spelled right or make sense anymore.

Enough.

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3

Instead of flipping open our devotional for the day, I decided to flip to Philippians 4 (try saying that three times fast) to think about these words Paul wrote.

The ones that are familiar are the ones we like to say just before we do something big, like talk in front of a large group of people or run a race or enter a boxing ring.

Ya know, sporty stuff.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

But Paul seems to have something else in mind. Notice the verses that precede that famous one: 

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. [And then comes the clincher:] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It seems like Paul’s talking less about hitting home runs and scoring goals, and more about actually finding a way to be content in God — who is enough — in every circumstance.

I wonder: is finding contentment in every circumstance way more challenging than home runs and high scores?

That Hebrew name for God — Jehovah Jireh — is a name that means God will provide. It’s just found once in Scripture, when Abraham doesn’t sacrifice his son, Isaac, because God provides a ram instead.

And I imagine it takes believing in Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides the sacrifice, to find contentment in every circumstance.

When the situation seems dire…
When the ends don’t look like they’re going to meet…
When you’ve found a way into something you’re not sure you can find a way out of.

Or maybe even just:

When your kids are frustrating you so much you want to scream…
You don’t think your spouse will ever quit hurting himself…
Or you forgot to get dinner out of the freezer, you just got home and it’s 7:00 pm on a school night.

Paul has found a secret that he wants to share with the Philippians, and I want to share it with you:

God is enough. He gives enough.

He is enough when we’re at the end of our rope, the end of our day, pulling the last straw at the bottom of the ninth.

He is enough, even when we’ve made bad choices and we turn to Him and say, “I’ve messed it all up! I’m sorry! Please help! Please come!”

He is enough for every circumstance we’ll ever face. He will show up enough. He will give enough. It will be in enough time. We will have enough because He is enough. He is all-sufficient, and everything we need.

Precious friend, I’m not sure what you’re facing today. But I’d love to encourage you to think on this one truth this week:

You are loved by a God who provides enough.

He loves you enough to come for you. He loves you enough to forgive you. He loves you enough to die for you.

When the world feels not-enough, and you feel like you’re not-enough, don’t have enough, can’t ever be enough, rest in the God who is enough, and has more than enough for you.

P.S. Did you hear what I made for you? I created a new resource called Guided Sacred Space. It’s a series of Scriptures with prompts for prayer that are meant to invite you into a quiet moment with God, perhaps differently from how you normally meet Him, or perhaps for the first time if you’re new to spending time with God. I hope this resource serves you well and welcome your feedback!

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