Download Audio (11.2MB)
Throughout life we go through hardships and we suffer loss. The Lord gives, and He takes away. We know He does it in love, but when something is painful for us, it’s often difficult to accept what He has done or is doing, to trust Him, to make the decision to believe that He knows best, and to flow with His plan, no matter how painful it seems at the moment.
There are times when, after something has happened in our lives, we’ve gone through a very difficult time, or had to let go of something dear to us, we reach a point through acceptance and submission to the Lord’s will in our lives where we realize that Jesus is truly enough.—Where our lives are relatively uncomplicated because we’re not so worried about things, or so intensely hoping for them to turn out a certain way; the place where we count everything else “but loss,”1 worthless in comparison to our relationship with Jesus and our desire to fulfill His will for our lives.
Sometimes, however, that hard-earned perspective is fairly short-lived. And it’s often so costly reaching that point. It would be nice if we could carry that perspective through our lives more consistently.
We’re naturally pretty attached to the things of this world. We are earthbound, and our human tendency is to put quite a few limitations on what we want to do, or are willing to do, or even feel we can do. We set boundaries, saying, “I’ll do this, but not that; I’ll give up this, but not that.”
But as disciples, we need a certain amount of detachment from the things of the world, or the values of the world. We need to be more heavenly minded and put a greater priority on those lasting values that are of such great worth in the heavenly realm. We should desire to be so in love with Jesus that other things don’t matter as much, where we have more trust in Him to do what is good in our lives, knowing that He’s in control and is going to bring good out of even the most difficult situations.
How do we reach that level of passion? How do we come to that point where Jesus truly is enough? When life is easy and you’re not having any big struggles, this concept can seem so far off or foreign, and even undesirable. But when you’ve been through something that has touched you deep down at the core of your faith, and you’ve made decisions there in the valley of testing that Jesus is enough for you, then you can relate to this concept, and you don’t ever want to lose that feeling. You know it was hell getting there, but once you have it, you have such peace and confidence in Jesus, and you find such comfort in His Word. Your spiritual life blossoms.
We asked the Lord how we can have that peace and dedication more consistently, that devotion and single-mindedness that enables us to say without regret or reservation, “Jesus is enough.”
Here are excerpts of His answers.
I am nigh to them that are of a broken heart, and I give grace to the humble. What this means is that there is a special closeness that is given to those who are humble and desperate for Me. And this humility and desperation is born often in those who have hit bottom and are clinging to their love for Me and their desire to partake of Me more fully. This is a special gift given to them, the honey that only comes forth after the squeezing.
When someone clings to Me through hard choices and deep sorrows, they experience pure joy and happiness of the soul. They know that they have made Me very happy by drawing close to Me, and they want to continue bringing that joy into their life by serving Me in whatever way I ask of them. They think so little of themselves and much more about Me and what My will for their life is.
There is no testimony without a test, no crown without a cross, no victory without a battle, and it’s often through the difficulties and breakings and hard times that you enter into this special union with Me.
The reason that hardships and difficulties bring this out so clearly is that they cut abruptly through the fog of your everyday life and bring you into direct contact with Me, and you have no other recourse but to cling tightly to Me.
This might make you wonder if trials and hardships are then the only way to be close to Me. The good news is, no. The hardships themselves aren’t what you’re after. What you’re after is knowing that there is nothing standing between you and Me, nothing you have held back from Me.
When you’ve rooted out anything that has stood between us, there is so much more room for Me to fill your life with My love and beauty and blessing.
The challenges in My Word present you with infinite choices over the course of your life to set your affections on things above, to let go of those things that would keep you from Me, to “lose your life” that you may truly save it.
You try to live as I would want you to live and forsake the things that come between us. I give you nudges about the things that stand between us, or about the props that you are carrying around with you, encouraging you to drop them. I show you the rooms of your life that aren’t fully open to Me and I encourage you to give Me access. Through those choices you draw close to Me, and even though you’re not in the middle of hardship, you know that nothing in your life is as important to you as Me.
*
Through putting Me first, and letting My Word humble your pride and bring your will into alignment with Mine, you will be drawn very close to Me, and you will know that I am the heart of your life and that I am enough for you.
Taste and see that I am good. Surrender to Me again and again, turning to Me, and let Me prove to you that with each thing you go through, I am enough to see you through. As you do this again and again—some through your own free-will offerings, some through what I require of you—slowly you come to that place of dependence on Me and knowing that I am enough for you.
When am I enough for you? It’s not necessarily a place that you reach after a certain set of circumstances, or a certain amount of experiences—it’s a place you reach in your heart and mind after personal decisions you have made for Me.
It’s a conscious decision that you make for Me when you hit upon the realization that, “Wow, my life is really not my own. Jesus is the only thing that has remained stable this far.” That’s when it dawns on you that I am truly enough—that even if you lost the whole world, because you have Me, you would have everything.
*
When David Livingstone began his missionary expeditions across Africa, things were a sacrifice for him. At the beginning of his service to Me, he couldn’t truthfully say, “I have never made a sacrifice,” because he hadn’t proved Me yet. He hadn’t tested My promises yet. He hadn’t yet tasted of My rewards in return for his sacrifices. He hadn’t yet experienced that I was enough for him.
And so there were sacrifices. First the sacrifices were relatively small, like the harsh climates he had to endure, the uncomfortable traveling conditions, the dangerous tribes he encountered, the pests and plagues of Africa like the mosquitoes, bugs, filthy water, and much more. Sometimes he wondered why he was even embarking on such a mission when the fruit seemed so pathetic; in fact, for the first few years the fruit was hardly even budding.
Then the sacrifices became greater, like having to leave his wife and children while he went on missions to other tribes; watching his children suffer the sicknesses of Africa; allowing Me to take one of his children home to heaven; sending his family back to England while he labored alone in Africa; trusting Me, although his life was touched with affliction time and time again.
As he continued to serve and sacrifice, he continued to experience My great capacity to satisfy. Each year he found that I was more to him than the year before. And through proving Me, through testing My promises, by the words of his testimony, “I have never made a sacrifice’” you can see that he found that I was enough.
It is through the paths of sacrifice, obedience, service, and lowliness that you discover My great capacity to be the world for you. Sacrifice starts first and foremost in your heart, in your mind. It’s not so much about what you’re giving up or the physical circumstances you find yourself in—it’s about your heart and your attitude toward Me. It’s about your desire to please Me, your willingness to give to Me, your faith to entrust what is precious to you into My hands, your love to give all things to Me.
The more you give Me, the more you lay at My feet, the more of yourself you surrender to Me each day, the more decisions you make for Me, the more you obey Me and choose My way over your own desires, the more you give your love to Me, the more you seek to live My Word, the more you prove Me by your faith to stand on My promises, the closer you come to that place where I am enough.
This is a change that takes place inside you little by little each day. Each time you give to Me, make a sacrifice for Me, or surrender another bit of your heart and life for Me, you come a step closer to Me.
The more you give to Me, the more impassioned you become for Me. The more you live for Me, the more you will see Me work for you. The more you test Me, the more you will find My power is proved. The more you sacrifice for Me, the more you will gain from Me. The closer you draw to Me, the closer I will draw to you.—Until you reach the point in your life where you realize that I have fulfilled all your dreams, I have made good on all My promises, I have kept My every word, I have been faithful at every step, and I have proved that I am more than enough for you.
Choose the paths that I place before you. Let every decision you make be for Me. When met with the choice of doing the humble thing or the proud thing, choose the humble thing. When met with the option of sacrificing something for Me, give Me that offering as willingly as you can.
All the choices you make for Me bring more and more of Me into your life. All the times you choose to stand on My promises and put Me to the test bring you closer and closer to this place of all-compelling love for Me. If you want to reach this place of intense satisfaction that My completeness brings, then choose Me each time you are presented with a choice. Then you too will be able to say with Livingstone, “I have never made a sacrifice, for Jesus has always been enough.”
*
Don’t be afraid of discovering that I am enough. In reality, everything else will at some point disappoint you. Only I never change. Only I will endure and always meet your expectations. Only I can keep things together. Only I can care perfectly for those things that are most important to you, and I do, when you put them in My hands.
Originally published June 2006. Updated and republished August 2012.
Read by Bethany Kelly.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment