Is God Enough?
When you search for meaning in trials and demand a reason for difficulties, the question we ask is, “Why is this happening?”
The question you need to answer is, “Is God enough?”
When life is hard and plans change, when futures seem forfeit, and life shifts unexpectedly, the question you have to settle is, “Is God enough?”
In the time before YouTube and Food Network, before Google was a noun and a verb, we used to find things to make for dinner in thick-paged volumes filled with ideas to bring tasty nutrition to the table.
These volumes were called cookbooks.
Frustrated by the time-consuming effort to make dinnertime both flavorful and healthy, my friend Jennifer bought herself a new cookbook called “Once a Month Cooking“. The cookbook detailed how to prep thirty entrees in one day, freeze them, and use them throughout the month. Jen’s plan was to double everything, make sixty meals, and split the bounty between us.
Jennifer thought it was genius. I thought it was harebrained.
Until I tried it.
Instead of spending a big chunk of every day filtering recipes, ferreting for ingredients, chopping, slicing, dicing, and heating, I had time to read, play with the kids, or take a nap!
The best part of our plan was that if a new recipe got hideous reviews at the table, I simply blamed Jennifer, and vice versa at her house. Our culinary prowess at home was never impugned.
Brilliant.
Jennifer had lots of great ideas. We didn’t just cook together. We joined Bible studies, took aerobics classes, shuttled the kids to museums, got motorcycle endorsements, and double dated with all the money we saved doing Once a Month Cooking.
For 25 years, we did life together – raising our children, burying our dead, celebrating and commiserating.
Then Jen’s hubz landed a new job. A dream job. The job of a lifetime. A job that was 3000 miles away! Of course, they had to go, but I got left behind and it hurt.
I’m sure it’s happened to you, too. Someone you love, someone you lean on, someone who gets you, leaves, moves, or dies and it hurts.
We feel that deep pain because we were created for relationships. Eternal relationships. When those eternal relationships get cut short by relocations or misunderstandings or death, it hurts. A lot!
Ultimately we have to ask ourselves: Is God enough? When all else fails and my heart is broken and the tears won’t stop, is God enough?
Girlfriend, may I assure you that He is. He is the One who will never leave or forsake you. He is the One who will listen and comfort. He is the One, the Only one you can truly depend on to remain steady.
I’d love to hear about a time when you asked, “Is God enough?” What did you discover? Leave a comment below. Perhaps your story will be featured in a future post.
Scripture: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8, NIV)
Prayer: God, when my heart ache and the tears flow, overwhelm me with Your Peace and Your Presence. Let me know that I am not alone and that you are with me. Send your Comforter. Send your angels. Send your people. Show me your love and let me learn to trust you in deeper ways. Amen.