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“And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure for ever.” Psalm 16:9-11 GNT
It wasn’t too many years ago when my dreams were fading, my confidence in people gone, and my health uncertain. Everything screamed to me that life was not fair and I was agreeing all the way. As I began to build my case against life, and all of the injustices, my heart quickly lost sight of everything good in my life. All of a sudden, nothing was good, nothing was right, and self was certainly getting promoted while the spirit was being ignored. Ingratitude had set up home in my heart and moved in under the pretense of “life is not fair.”
Then, one day the Lord asked me a question that consisted of three simple words. But these words changed everything because they exposed my heart and made me see who I had become. A woman of self justification. You see this is very subtle, one moment you are just wanting to do right and obey God, and then following Him cost you something, and you take it personally. You begin to make judgements against God, and others, and your hidden “stuff” gets exposed. This is what happened the day the Lord asked me, “Am I Enough?”
How I answered that or what I believed regarding that was everything. For, if He wasn’t enough then what I was declaring was a farce, but if He was enough, then I was being called to live out of that reality. If He was enough, then I would never have another excuse for judgement against my brothers and sisters, I would never have another excuse for my self justification. If He was enough then I needed to trust Him and let Him be enough in my life.
In that season, I easily could have convinced myself that it was more complicated than that, but it wasn’t and it isn’t. He is either who He says He is, or He is not. If He is enough then my life must adjust and gratitude needs to overflow. You see, life consists of two roads, two paths, two choices. We often think there are many roads, many different paths, many choices. But there aren’t. He is life, anything less is death.
So, in a moment of time with three simple words, my God revealed to me the path that leads to life. He flooded my heart with his presence and reminded me that only true joy and pleasure are found experiencing that He is enough. Sometimes this requires getting up from our places of pity and applying Truth to our places of pain. Sometimes it means not feeding the ungrateful attitude, but choosing gratitude even when life doesn’t seem fair.
We move from flesh to spirit when we live by the spirit and not the flesh. Is He enough? If He is, gratitude must be your response.
I wonder how that season would have been different for me had I chosen to joy in God regardless of my experience. I can almost feel the rich reward that I would have known if I had let Him be enough before those three words came.
Today, I am grateful that I can still say that He is enough. I have faced days of uncertainty since that season, and even at this moment have many questions about the future, but I do know without a doubt that He is enough for my tomorrows. So, for today, I will trust and lean hard into the One who leads me to life, joy, and overflowing realities of His presence.
Comments(2)
Susan Craig says:
February 24, 2015 at 3:52 amI appreciate the the question you have presented here Freda because it seems to be straight to the heart or essence of what our Christianity is all about. Trusting God to provide all we need and then being satisfied with all that we are given. Is He enough? If He is,then we need to live in the assurance that He really is all we need. Being a Christian for a long time does not mean we are walking in truth all the time-sometimes it takes years of us doing some things wrong before we come to realize that maybe what we are doing is not lining up to the truth of Who God really is and who He wants us to be. We can delude ourselves into thinking that everything we do is for the right motive since we are Christian people and want to follow Christ’s leading. But we do not always get everything right and sometimes it takes us years of doing something wrong and it finally catching up to us in order for us to stop and re-evaluate our life. I have been determined to follow Jesus for many years yet there were some deep seated errors in motivation that I was not even aware of til I was confronted with a reality check. My husband recently asked me”How much is enough?” and I had to face the reality of what he was asking. At what point do we realize that we have enough and become satisfied with what we have. He is 65 years old today and I see him at this point of his life feeling tired of working hard to provide for us and to pay the bills. Last year I was forced into early retirement due to health issues. That was not in our financial plan-because of disability,my income has been reduced to less than half the amount that it was when I was working. Our plan was to work til our mortgage was paid off but that will not happen now. We have reached the point where we have to be satisfied with what we have at this point in time. The question the Lord asked me becomes even more significant as we contemplate what’s next. Do you trust me,Susan??? If He is God,and I know what that means,then why at this point in my life is this question so significant??? Because if I am honest, I have not been living my life in a way that shows that I trust Him. I trusted my husband to provide for us-for awhile that worked but when he lost work and struggled in this area,I realized that my trusting him to provide for me was misplaced. Then I worked extra shifts to make ends meet showing that I could only trust myself to provide for us. Then I got sick and couldn’t work anymore..so much for trusting me!!!! That was when the realization dawned on me that the reality of who I was trusting my life with was not what I thought it was-I thought I was trusting in God but gradually over time I realized that was not the case at all. I was living a lie-yet I honestly was not even aware of it til God confronted me about it and His truth became evident to me. So I now sit on the threshhold of a new reality and the choice becomes this-Do I really trust God is, and will always be, sufficient or do I put my trust elsewhere??-If God is ALL, then why settle for less?? He really is Everything I need and to put my trust anywhere else is folly and is settling for less than what I want or need. This has been an eye-opening process for me-once we have truth revealed to us,we can not go back to live a lie. The truth of the sufficiency of God is just that and it makes a big difference in how my life is lived from this moment forward. All God wants from us is to trust that He is All He has said He is. He has already proven that to me-I do believe it and I thank Him that He does not leave us in our delusions but sheds His light of truth on His children to expose anything false in us so it can be confronted and removed. God is light-in Him is no darkness at all. God is life-death has no power over us when we live in Him. God is Love-therefore we have no choice but to love and forgive others. God is Righteous,therefore we must leave justice to Him. God is enough-Help us Lord to believe this even when we do not always see the path before us. Nothing will happen to us that You have not permitted and we must trust you!! Thankful that God is Everything we need!!He is my all in all.
Pat McRae says:
February 24, 2015 at 2:32 pmPsalm 16:9-11 Message Bible
I’m happy from the inside out and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell-that’s not my destination! Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand., I’m on the right way.
Tasha Cobbs ” Without You” worship song
As I was reading this passage and the commentaries regarding it I was listening to Tasha Cobbs worship song “Without You”. It was a powerful time in God’s presence! He reminded me He is the One who makes my upside down world right side up and He is the reason my world goes round. My favourite translation today was from the Message Bible, which I included above. This passage of Scripture is my life!
People are doing all kinds of things to be happy and yet to live in His presence is total happiness from the inside out and the outside in. Oh life can still throw the curve ball that pushes a bit but when we walk with God it can’t steal our joy! Why? Because our joy is not dependent on the right situations or circumstances, on material gain, but our joy is found just being in His presence. Yes I am firmly formed in His presence. As I wake in the morning and talk with Him there are some mornings I just do not want to get out of bed. There is such a tangible presence, His peace and joy surround me as I lay there just talking. It is like my pillow is His lap and I have my head laying on His lap as I make my request, praise Him, thank Him and just enjoy being with Him.
The Ticket-I remember telling someone what my retirement plans would look like, of course they were my plans not His but I have always been a dreamer! And she asked me what if I didn’t make to retirement. I still remember the statement. The shocked look on her face, that mirrored the shock in me, that I made such a statement with such boldness and assurance. It was then that I knew that I knew where my eternity would be spent. I had none of the Biblical understanding I have today but my spirit man knew the truth and spoke. All I said was, “Oh that ticket is bought and paid for. It is a one way ticket no return!” She wanted to know how I could be so sure and I don’t know what I told her because to that moment I didn’t know I knew but I have known from that moment to this day that my eternity will be spent with my Lord. No devil in hell can condemn me enough to make me shake on this fact. Why? Because today I believe and received the ticket, the price of the ticket has been paid in full by Jesus at Calvary. I have nothing more to add to the payment. What I do today is not to get to heaven or to get into heaven, it is out of pure love, my gift, small as it is, to the One I love more then life.
So no thanks to me Jesus has put my feet on life’s path, a path where the stumbling rocks are removed and the uneven places have been made level. A way where I can step with confidence and assurance. His radiance shines on me causing me to shine for Him. And yes He holds my hand. I haven’t had anyone to hold my hand physically for over 30 years now that I could trust to defend me. So when I have been faced with a situation that caused me to fear the outcome, like divorce court or the bosses office, I have always quoted this, “Hold my hand Lord, give me courage.” and He has never failed me. I can truthfully say He is the only reason my feet are on the right path. The path that leads to life ever lasting, and eternity with my King!
Today I am thankful for God’s Word. It is His love letter to me that brings me assurance, peace, joy, security and the right to depend on Him. I am thankful that Jesus paid the price for my ticket and that the Holy Spirit is leading me and guiding me down the path of life.
Today I have a merry heart full of gratitude to the One who is my source of life, light, and liberty. The Lover of my soul!