when God is enough...

the other morning had some praise music on...i was diligently going through some paperwork while singing along...

one song stopped me dead in my tracks...

You're all i want...You're all i've ever needed...
You're all i want...
help me know You are near...

draw me close to You
never let me go
i lay it all down again
to hear You say that i'm Your friend
You are my desire
no one else will do
cause no one else can take Your place
to feel the warmth of Your embrace
help me find the way
bring me back to You...

i have sung this song so many times...in church...in my car...at home...but this morning...i thought long and hard to the words i was singing...

was He truly all i wanted? was He truly all i needed? i liked the knowing that He was near part...but thinking back on my prayers...and all i ask for...if my hopes and dreams did not come to fruition...would He be enough?

so i asked myself...

really? did i really mean those words? is my Jesus enough??

ultimately the question should be...is my relationship with Jesus in such a place that if He was truly all i had today...or ever...would i still be able to stand and sing those powerful lyrics?

if i look at my life...and the lives of those around me...the summary would be...that the economy is shaky...funds are tight...prices at the gas pumps are starting to creep up again...the grocery bills are rising...

so what will i do?

will i let my heart be drawn into a place of worry and fear over all the instability? or will i choose to quiet my soul and calmly proclaim, "Jesus is my provider and He is enough..."

when we ask the Lord for things...whether they be things that are good for us...some selfish...some not so much...the ultimate response after the prayer is the waiting...

the waiting is one of the hardest things we do...especially when the years go by and we see no fulfillment of our hopes and dreams...i guess if you really think about it...it's a good thing to learn to wait...as we spend a large amount of our lives waiting...

hannah in 1 Samuel knew the misery of waiting for dreams that did not come true...she was childless...it didn't help that the second wife her husband had taken...gloated in front of hannah over her many children...

hannah chose to pour out her agony before God...she was misunderstood by many...her husband didn't seem to understand her distress...and the priest, eli...thought she was drunk...

yet there was something about going before God and spilling out her trouble...well it seemed to remind hannah of who God was...she expected him to look after her, to remember her, and to give her a son...she went away content...

hannah's prayers were answered...and as she promised God...when the son was old enough..she gave him back to God...

hannah's second prayer is far different then her prayer in asking for a child...it is a song of praise to the God that she sees sovereign over all of life...

could it be that hannah learned what we need to learn? that it truly is God who makes life complete? we may ache for this or that...we concentrate on our wants and needs instead of on God...when it is God who is enough...

no wonder the scriptures tell us over and over to wait for the Lord...not for the things you want...but for the Lord...

i don't know what kinds of twists and turns might come during my life journey...but, i know the only way to travel with a joyful peace is to settle in my heart the answer to this question once and for all...so, today, i declare Jesus is enough...before i even know in what way this declaration will be tested, i've made the decision to say it, believe it and settle it...

Jesus is enough...

i think this is why Proverbs 31 is my favorite portrait of a godly woman. proverbs 31:25 reminds us, "she can laugh at the days to come.”

the proverbs 31 woman was filled with such incredible joy not because life was perfect but simply because she had decided to make laughter, peace, and truth the hallmarks of her life...

proverbs 31:30 goes on to say this was a woman to be praised because she so reverenced God in the shrine of her heart...she knew without a doubt, He was - and still is - enough.