A quick glance around the world reminds us that the life situation of people varies greatly. Depending on your circumstances, the question of "What is enough?" might have vastly different answers. For some people, enough would mean having clean water, even if it meant having to walk a mile or two to draw it and haul it back home. For others, enough may be driving a car that is not over two years old. Still, others may think of enough as a 10,000 square foot house, plus a second home in the mountains and an additional one at the beach.
My father told me that when he was a boy, growing up in the throes of the Great Depression, his dream, or idea of what enough would be, was to have enough money if he ever wanted a milkshake, he would have a dime to buy it. He later revised that thought while serving in World War II. At that point, he thought enough was clothes to keep you warm enough, a roof to keep you dry, and some type of food to keep you from going hungry. It did not have to be a milkshake!
Just A little Bit More
Enough can mean different things to different people. According to their context, what enough usually means for us is something a little more than what we currently have. It is reported that John D. Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil in 1870 and became the wealthiest person in the United States, was once asked, "How much money is enough?" His reply is both honest and remarkably accurate for all of human nature. In response to the question, Rockefeller said, "Just a little bit more."
There is something within us that longs for more than what we have. Even if we have plenty, like the man in the man in the Bible who tore down his barns to build bigger barns, we can have more than we ever dreamed of having and still want "just a little bit more." True contentment is very elusive for us yet is perhaps the most precious commodity one can have. What a gift it would be to be genuinely content. To be like a sheep, lying down in green pastures beside still waters, entirely and perfectly content.
Paul Found the Answer
This gift of having enough is offered to us, but it comes from only one source and is offered in only one way. God alone can give us enough, and He says that the source of having enough is His grace. When Paul asked God repeatedly for something he did not have, God told him specifically and directly, "My grace is sufficient for you." God told Paul that he could not have what he was asking for, but that would not satisfy him long-term anyway. Only God's grace is truly enough for us. Paul learned this to be true and said elsewhere that he had known to be content in whatever circumstance he was in. He did not depend on any circumstance for his contentment. He did not look to anything of this world to be what gave him joy. Paul had enough because God's grace is enough.
Your Grace is Enough
In the early 2000s, contemporary worship artist Chris Tomlin recorded the song Your Grace is Enough. The message of this song is the truth Paul learned and the same truth we need to know as well. God is faithful, God's love and justice are perfect, so His grace in our lives is always enough. The song expresses this truth so simply and so beautifully through these words:
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me
Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God, I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me
These words are true. God's grace is enough for us all. Nothing else can compare.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.