Is Jesus really enough?

Is Jesus enough? How many of us would raise our hand to say, “Yes, Jesus really is enough for me”, but then in our next breath we behave as though our lives are falling apart because we don’t get that promotion, or our kids disobey, our clothes don’t fit right, our pumpkin spice latte is not on the menu any more, or we realize our foreseeable future is not going to be what we had hoped it might be. All teasing aside, there are times when we are asking God to perform a miracle in an area of our life or in healing a relationship or in providing financially, big things; important things. We ask for God to respond but the real question we need to ask ourselves; “if God’s answer is no or wait or yes but not the way you think”, is our relationship with Jesus Christ still enough? Are we willing to trust God even still?

Isaiah 29:13 says “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” We often give lip service to God in how we talk compared to our attitudes and obedience. We say we trust Him with everything. We ask Him to move and change the hearts involved or the circumstances but when those things don’t happen, what is our attitude? Do we joyfully surrender the future? Do we throw an internal tantrum and decide God isn’t trustworthy if He doesn’t perform?

If we believe that God is good at being God. If we believe that He has good plans for us and He is working out that good plan on our behalf, (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28) then we have to act and think that way too. We know that God’s good plan for us is Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection providing us salvation and freedom. That’s what the good plan hinges on! Every other gift that God gives and all the other plans He has for us daily flows out from that relationship we have in Christ. God has given us freedom in Christ! He has given us eternal life! He has given us new purpose! That might seem like too many exclamation points but that is all wonderful news worth getting excited about. If all those are true, then any other gift God gives is a bonus and pales by comparison. He has given us the best gift in Jesus.

I personally need to spend a lot more time focused on that statement and much less on all the things I need God to do. My relationship with Jesus is the greatest gift I have ever or will ever receive. If the rest of my life is full of struggle and strife, I am still blessed far more than I deserve. Our American dream flies in the face of my Christianity. It tells me that each day should be better than the last and I deserve only good things. We aren’t promised a life without struggle or pain. We can guarantee hard days and painful relationships. And the closer we get to Jesus, the more this world feels uncomfortable – we realize we are aliens and strangers in a strange land. This isn’t our home. (1 Peter 2:11)

It’s paying lip service to say that Jesus is enough but not to live that way inwardly and outwardly. We are no different that the Israelites who did all the right things. Like sacrifices and prayers but once the religious task was done they went on with their lives as though God did not exist. It didn’t permeate their lives so much that each moment was covered in that relationship. Before this begins to feel like heaping condemnation, God does not expect perfection. He knows us – far better than we know ourselves. He knows that we battle daily to place Him first. For the Israelites the had to trust the work of sacrifices to be the atonement for their sins. It was supposed to help them keep God top of mind but I can see how they might get caught in routine and tasks and forget relationship. But for us on the other side of the cross, we have relationship in a much more personal way. This is how the battle is won daily. We can rest in Jesus and His sacrifice for us. Keeping that at the forefront of our minds (with His help) we can give each moment, every prayer, every relationship, every desire, every hope and dream to the One who has given us more than we deserve. When we surrender all of that to our Good Father, we can trust that every yes, no and wait has His perfect plan written all over it because no matter what, we have been given Jesus Christ!

This season of life has been hard for me. I have several areas of my life in which I am asking God to do something big. I am praying for healing in relationships, praying for miracles to lead the way in our months ahead. I am asking for dreams to come true. I know God loves hearing my heart and He loves hearing my prayers and having me pray big prayers. But what I hear him ask in response is “Is Jesus enough?” If none of these prayers get answered my way or in my timing, is Jesus still enough for me? The question is hard because Jesus is enough BUT… Today, rather than focus on my requests and needs, I am intentionally laying those down to focus on what an awesome gift I have been given. Jesus, you really are enough.