Mike Focht 12/1/2023
Is God enough? It is a question we will find ourselves continually asking. To answer yes at one point in life doesn’t mean we have finished with the question. Or, might I say that the question is finished with us. God must be enough, or He would not be God. But what God is continually teaching is that He is enough for me. This question will be a recurring theme throughout our entire life.
It all begins with salvation. We believe that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is enough to save us from our sins. In faith, we hold to the fact that there is nothing more for us to add, nothing more for us to do, nothing more for us to be. The gift of God is enough for our salvation.
Next, we begin our life in Christ. The Spirit of God is moving in us, and as we follow His lead and Christ lives in us, we come to situations where the spiritual life of God conflicts with the temporal allurements of the material world. In different facets and ways, the question comes to us again. Is God enough? Is God more than all the material world can offer me? What does it matter if I gain the whole world but lose Him? Or my soul? By God’s grace, we turn from loving this present world, deny ourselves, and choose to love God. He is enough.
Soon, we find this new life with God places us in conflict with more than the material world and the riches of its kingdoms. We are also running against the grain of its citizens and their fellowship. Following Jesus puts us in direct confrontation with family, friends, and relationships that we love. At other times, we silently drift apart until they are out of sight like ships in the sea. The question comes to us again. The humans we loved best are gone, and we are alone. Is God enough? I cannot be His disciple if I do not follow Him above all others. We must all personally learn the lesson that the God who gave us relationships is more significant than any relationship He has given. He is enough.
Having put aside the outward temptations of the world and its conflicting fellowship, the sincere believer finds another place of struggle. We have put away and turned from obvious outward sins, but shockingly, we discover inward sins such as we thought would be gone by now. Our personal sinful nature is more robust than we imagined. We are weaker than we thought. We imagined we would be farther along. More Christlike. More powerful. More holy. Instead, we are vulnerable and in bondage to a body of death. Christ has saved us. Will Christ change us? The question comes to us again. Is God enough? As we lose all hope and determination in self, we find all mercy and power in God. We learn the lesson again in a new way. Christ is enough to save us eternally. Christ is also enough to save us presently.
At this point, we are walking with God in uprightness and simple faith. We rest in Him and have developed wonderful fellowship in the family of God. We have new confidence in the Lord’s patience and work in us. But something unexpected happens. Godly men and women around us—parents, mentors, pastors, maybe the very person who led us to Christ, mature friends, missionaries, etc.—are not who we thought they were. Scandalous sin emerges, or a falling from the faith, or an unrepentant attitude. These moments rock us. We question our discernment and ability to hear God’s voice. We wonder if we can remain faithful ourselves. The question comes to us again. Is God enough? Do we turn from the faith, Christians, godly love, and fellowship to protect ourselves? Or do we turn our eyes to Him who is able to keep us from falling? We started following Christ because He was enough. We learn that Jesus Christ remains enough even when believers fall short.
If God gives us a good life, full of days, we will come to another crossroads. Those we know, love, walk with, serve with, worship with, and take sweet communion with begin to go home. We may very well have more loved ones in heaven than on earth. He still has us here, but spouses, children, family, and friends go on to be present with the Lord. Why does He still have us here when we want to be there? Why does He have us walking here alone when we want to be gathered with our people? The question comes to us again. Is God enough? We must learn again that He is. He who gave us all our hopes and all our loves is enough. Without Him, there is no reunion.
Finally, we will all find the question one last time. We will all come to the river of death. At that moment, when no other human can join us or walk with us, He alone will be our Guide. The question will come to us a final time. Is God enough? There, at the end of all things and the beginning of all things, for the last time, we will finally learn the lesson God has been teaching us our entire lives—that He is enough.