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Monday, November 5, 2012

Enough

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This week, I'm guest posting on my friend Sharon Srock's blog. I'd love for you to check it out. While you're there, be sure to click through the sidebar to her other pages which feature some fantastic Oklahoma authors and a chance to win free books!
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Photo Credit: Creative Commons
I was wading through the great fountain of spiritual truth known as Twitter the other day, and ran across a quote that stopped me in my cyber tracks.

“The good that God promises me isn’t a situation, possession, position, or relationship. The good that He promises me is Himself.” @PaulTripp

That was really convicting to me.

How many times do I equate God’s goodness or His depth of love for me with my circumstances?

Answer: way too many.

Now, if you asked me to my face if I believed my circumstances were a direct reflection of God’s goodness, I would say of course not. Any good Christian knows that. But my life doesn’t really answer that way if I inspect it too closely. Sometimes, life is really hard, so I pray for God to fix all the broken pieces, to change my situation, increase my position. If I’m honest, I just want Him to make living in this world easier.

But He doesn’t promise me a life of comfort and ease. He never said I’d receive everything I long for.

A lot of the things I long for are good things. I want to see people healed and justice reign. I want to see my city transformed by the presence of God. I want to write stories that change people’s hearts and nudge them closer to Jesus.

Of course, some things I want are more self-centered. Like paying my mortgage, becoming a published author, or wanting my kids not to need too much therapy when they finally move out of the house.

Those are all good things to want. Some are even God-given hopes and dreams. But what if I never get any of them?

Hebrews 11 talks about all the heroes of the faith. Big names like Moses, Abraham, and Jacob, just to name a few. These people did extraordinary things, but verse 13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.”

For these people, God’s presence in their life outweighed everything else. His nearness was the most important thing. HE was enough.

If I never see the things I’m hoping for, dreaming of, chasing after...is He enough?

I so want my answer to be YES!


How about you? What are some things you hope and dream of? How has God shown His nearness in your life?