"Am I Enough?"

                                                              Habakkuk 3:17-18
                                              Though the fig tree may not blossom,
                                                         Nor fruit be on the vines;
                                              Though the labor of the olive may fail,
                                                       And the fields yield no food;
                                         Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
                                               And there be no herd in the stalls ---
                                                  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
                                              I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Sitting on my basement floor painting a rocking chair for my grandson, tears ran down my face that would not stop. "Why Lord? I don't understand. Why don't you do something about this heartache that never seems to go away?" Battling feelings of betrayal and confusion, nothing seemed to make sense. Didn't we do all we could to prevent this heartache? Was there no reward for walking close to the Lord, leaning on Him for every decision? "God, where are you? Do You care that I am hurting?"

It wasn't spoken words I heard, ones that others would hear had they been in the room. It was more like an inner voice, deep in my soul; "Cyndy, am I enough for you? If all else falls away and you are left with only Me, am I enough?"
               
How I wanted to shout , "Yes Lord! You know You are!" But, before I could speak I knew I couldn't say yes. And at that moment I knew this wasn't about the heartache we were facing, although it was very real. It wasn't about unanswered prayers. This wasn't even about Satan having havoc with my life. It was all about my coming face to face with the truth that I expected the Lord to hear my prayers and come to my rescue, taking away the heartache. It was about my realizing that I found joy in my salvation, and peace that passes all understanding, only when all was well in my life.

This is not what Jesus wants for His children. He wants us to know He is enough even when life is not peaceful and all is well. He wants us to want Him and Him alone. From the words of John Piper, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."

Am I satisfied in Him? Is He enough? Oh, Lord, may I shout "Yes!" and know that it is true!

                                                Though the fig tree may not blossom,
                                                        Nor fruit be on the vines,
                                                   Yet I will rejoice in the LORD
                                               I will joy in the God of my salvation.
         

Choose This Day

                                                              John 10:10
                              "The thief does not come except to steal, and to destroy. 
                                            I have come that they may have life
                                      and that they may have it more abundantly."

How often have you been having a wonderful day, all is as it should be, and then like a thief in the night, something happens and your joy is immediately replaced with despair and frustration? "The thief does not come except to steal, and to destroy." 

As followers of Christ we have a chose whether to stoop to the lies of Satan, walking in defeat, or stand on the word of God, knowing what He tells us is truth. Just as He spoke to the multitudes so long ago, He speaks to us today, warning of the thief who comes to steal our joy, destroy our peace, and ploy to steal our faith and trust in our Savior. Nothing gives Satan more satisfaction then we he succeeds in taking our eyes off Jesus and instead fretting over our problem. My mom tells me at times like this he is sitting in the corner clapping, knowing he has won.

How do we stand on the Word of God when everything around us seems to be moving toward defeat? How do we trust in what we do not see? We stand in faith. We believe the Word of God over the evidence before us.

                             Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
                             evidence of things not seen.                     __Hebrews 11:1

Faith is a chose. It cannot be forced, nor can it be replaced. Faith and fear cannot exist as one. We either choose to walk in faith, or allow fear to steal our peace. Who will we believe, our Savior or our enemy?

                          "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have
                           set before you life and death, blessings and cursing; therefore
                           choose life that both you and your descendants my live; that you may
                           love the LORD your God, that you may cling to Him, for He is your
                           life and the length of your days.                  __Deuteronomy 30:19

Let's choose this day to stand on the word of God, allowing Satan to stoop in the corner, not clapping this time, but with his head hung low in defeat.

                          "I have come that they may have life and that they may have it
                            more abundantly."                                      __John 10:10