Enough Without

"A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you're not enough without the medal, you'll never be enough with it." ~Irv Blizter from Cool Runnings

I love the stories of the Olympics and all that many overcame to achieve their dreams.  I am also struck by all of the disappointments of those who felt they came up short.  Whether or not we are contending for a gold medal we all face the same battle: to be enough without.  There is nothing wrong with dreams and desires, unless you are waiting for your arrival at them to become enough.  If we don’t have security inside we won’t find it outside.  It’s an inside out thing.  Some people chase after it for years, jumping from one success to the next on an endless cycle that leaves them with the same emptiness.  It’s a mirage of thinking that the next thing will bring us to the place of security.  Yet, the truth is you are already enough.  It’s not in the next thing or even the last thing but it is now, because you are already enough.  What freedom to chase after your dreams knowing you don’t need them to be enough.  Whether it’s gold, or promotion, or marriage, or title, or money, or fame...you are enough without it. 

“How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.”

Ephesians 1:3 NLT

You are enough, because God says so.  You belong to Him not because of anything that you have done, but simply because you are His.  He has blessed you with every spiritual blessing, not because you are super great, had lots of successes or served really well, but simply because He chose to.  He chose you and that makes you enough for the God of the universe.  Can you hear Him speaking it to you, “You, my child, are enough for me, Your Heavenly Father.”  It’s true, but it’s not something easily comprehended.  We have to sit with it, away from the messages of the world telling us all the things we need to have or do to be enough.  Yet, that’s the miracle of God: He loves you because you are His.  He doesn’t need you to be more, He just needs you.  

Harder Not To

“Healing is hard, but it’s harder not to.”
Loren Thornburg

The advice is clear for treating a wound: don’t ignore it.  When you ignore the wound the infection can spread.  The medical field recommends four steps: take care of it immediately, clean it, see a doctor (if needed), keep pressure off of the wound.  It seems this is great advice for more than the healing of a wound, but for our hearts as well.  We seem to be really good at ignoring our wounds.  Somehow that is the message we get.  If you ignore it then it will go away.  Unfortunately, dismissing it doesn’t heal it.  We wouldn’t expect a cut to heal without proper care and our hearts are just the same.  They need to be attended to, cleaned, advised and have space to rest.  There are many good ways to walk this out and the only wrong way is to ignore it.  We tend to opt out of this process because it’s hard.  I wish I could tell you it wasn’t, but it is hard to walk out healing whether emotional or physical, but it is harder if you don’t.  For what happens is then it gets worse, bringing more pain and less joy.  Don’t opt because it’s hard, for the reality is that it’s actually the easier option.  Healing is hard, but it’s harder not to.  

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 147:3

God is a god who heals.  It is in His nature.  His character is a healer, especially of the heart.  The word wounds in this Psalm is better understood as grief or sorrow.  So it is your heart that the Lord most wants to heal.  The hard part is, it doesn’t heal on it’s own and it doesn’t heal overnight.  He takes us through a process of healing so that when you’re griefs are healed and bound up you get more than healing, but an intimacy with Him.  When you invite Him in for healing you get more than healed, but you get more of Him.  So although the healing is hard, it’s worth it.  Don’t miss the healing He has for you.  Even though it’s hard, it’s always harder not to.  Just think of all you might miss...freedom, joy, Him.   

No More No Less

“Give yourself permission to be where you are, no more, no less.”

Loren Thornburg

I had read lots of books and been to many seminars, but the words, “it’s okay” brought me the freedom I most needed.  Those words brought validation to the place I had found.  Physically, emotionally, spiritually I needed permission to be where I was and to know that was okay.  It was okay to be single, okay to be short of my dreams, okay to be disappointed, okay to be sad, okay to feel.  It’s part of life and the humanity with which we are designed.  So then how did it get to not be okay?  It’s the message all around us: it’s in advertisements, it's in facebook, it’s in success, it’s in having it all together.  There is a premium placed on those things leaving no room for it to be okay for anything less.  Yet, the longer it’s not okay the more we miss ourselves and who we really are, where we are really at and the beauty found there.  Yes, there is something beautiful about that place because it’s honest and real.  There is something beautiful because freedom is found there.  When we live from the freedom of that place we find the joy we were looking for in all those other places.  it’s not found in getting more.  It’s found when it’s okay to be where you are, no more, no less. 

“But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 NET

Moses is calling Israel to turn back to the Lord for He would be ready to receive them.  it says to seek the Lord “from there,” from the place where you are now.  From there you will find Him if you really want Him.  Even when we’re in a place that is straying from the Lord He meets us there.  He doesn’t ask that we try to be in a different place first.  God comes to us where we are and says it’s okay.  He asks for our whole heart and soul.  He doesn’t ask that we be a little better before we turn.  If God accepts us where we are, then let us follow and do the same.  Now God loves us too much to let us stay there.  He is constantly calling us to more of Him.  Yet, it all starts from there, that place you find yourself.  It’s okay to be there, for that is exactly where the Lord can meet us.  

Courage Again

“Though you’ve tried before, though it seems failure is near, take courage again.”

Loren Thornburg

Oh how I often I find I am just like the children I have taught.  They try something once and decide that they can’t do it or that it doesn’t work for them.  From the outside looking in it is easy for me to recognize how ridiculous that sounds.  I explain to them that new things take time and practice, but it’s worth it.  Some may dare to risk falling short again and again in order to achieve their goal, while others are not willing to do so.  It is so hard to watch those who are not willing to risk when I know how worth the risk it is.  Yet, somehow even having seen this in them I do the exact same thing in my own life.  I fear the failure that history says is coming if I dare to find courage again to try yet another time.  The problem is without the courage to try again I could miss out on the very thing I’ve been longing to find.  Let’s take courage again though it seems failure is near.  It’s worth the risk.  

“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.  But Simon answered and said to Him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

Luke 5:4-5 NKJV

I can only imagine what Simon was thinking as Jesus called him to let down his net after he had spent all night without catching anything.  Simon had good reason to believe that there would be no result from another try.  He had spent all night fishing in that same sea and came up with nothing.  And yet, he was wrong.  Their nets became so full of fish that they couldn’t hold them.  Oh what he would have missed had he not trusted the word of the Lord.  Simon had courage to believe the word of the Lord over what he thought to be true.  He took the Lord at His word.  Because God said so he followed and because he followed he caught more than he could contain.  Let us not miss the provision the Lord wants to bring us for fear of risking again.  Nevertheless, may we take the Lord at His word, because He said so, in spite of how things may seem.  For at His word Simon found more than enough.  

Made Like Glass

“We all need space.  We were made to have breaks.  So even though it’s busy, come find your rest.”

Loren Thornburg

I am learning the hard way that glass doesn’t handle temperature change very well.  I have broken multiple glass dishes forgetting that glass doesn't adjust to differing temperatures quickly.  Apparently, it has to do with the lack of elasticity in the makeup of glass.  This means they need time to transition from one temperature to the next.  I am finding that much like glass, I need time to transition from one thing to the next.  Although some people are able to move easily from one thing to the next at some point we all need space to transition.  We are not without limits.  For most of us our limits are comparable to glass: fragile and easily broken if not given enough time and space.  I hate to admit it but I need margin in my life.  We all have a little glass in us.  Embrace your limits and enjoy some space.

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'”

Mark 6:31 NIV

In the midst of the chaos Jesus called his disciples away.  In the middle of needs there was a greater need for rest.  It wasn’t because things slowed down that Jesus called them to a quiet place, but simply because it was time for some rest.  God created us for rest.  He made us to need quiet spaces in our days.  Often we miss this finding activity of greater importance.  We dismiss rest as for those who are lacking.  Yet, what I’m finding is that rest actually requires more strength.  It requires me to step away from doing and it asks that I relinquish me as the one who is in control.  Often we fear we might miss something in this quiet place of being, but what I’m finding is that the greater loss is what I miss by not being in the quiet with the One who created me.  So let us accept our fragility of design and enter into the quiet place of rest. 

You Are Here

“Let it be okay to be where you are, needing no more and embracing no less."

Loren Thornburg

As one who is navigationally challenged I appreciate the maps with the big star representing where you are in relation to the map. When I enter a mall the first place I go is straight for this map.  I often wish my life had this same map showing me where I am and how to get where I want to go.  Yet, even if I had this map it’s not what I really need.  Although it’s helpful to know how to get where I want to go and have it seem as easy as a map in the mall, what I really need is to be present where I am.   Life is constantly begging us to look ahead to what’s next and where we need or want to go, but rarely is it enough to look at the map of our life and see the ‘you are here’ mark and let that be okay.  What if it was enough to be where you are without wanting or needing to be somewhere else?  For the truth is: Where you are is enough, no more and no less.  So don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop moving toward your goals, but stop needing to be somewhere else.  You are here...and that’s enough. 

“...What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.  People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.  Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.  Don’t worry about missing out.  You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Matthew 6:31-34 MSG

Sometimes it’s hard for us to be okay with where our lives have taken us.  We had dreams and visions of it looking a certain way that didn’t happen.  It’s there that we can start blaming God for these things.  It can sound ridiculous in theory, but I have found myself in this spot too.  If He is sovereign and in control is He not at fault for the disappointments and hard spots of my life?  Yet, I find that as soon as I start playing that game I have to also allow Him to be ‘at fault’ for all of the good things as well.  As I start looking at the lists of all the ways He has taken care of me and given me so much it’s hard to stay in that place of blame.  It reminds me that He is bigger than I give Him credit for in my place of blame.  So we don’t have to get worked up about where we are or where we aren’t because He is the God who knows us, sees us and has plans for us.  Get worked up about that.  Become consumed and preoccupied with Him.  As you do you will find He is already meeting you there.  Give your entire attention to where you are and what God is doing there, letting go of needing to be farther along or on a different journey.  Where you are is enough because God is enough for you right here.  

It Takes Both

“Life is…pits and peaks, blessing and suffering, giving and receiving, working and playing, rejoicing and grieving, overcoming and struggling…it takes both.”
Loren Thornburg

You’ve all been there listening to an argument where you realize there are two sides to the story.  You can’t get the full story without both sides.  There are two sides to every story...including yours. There are both really good parts and really hard parts.  It takes both parts and all sides to accurately view the events before you.  The new year is a great time to look back and reflect on what has happened in your last year.   Yet, we have to remember to see both sides.  There are both good parts and hard parts.  Sometimes our tendency is to only see the hard parts, especially when we are in the midst of them.  Each story requires both rejoicing and grieving.  So wherever you find yourself remember that life is both pits and peaks.  The trick is learning how to enjoy the ride.  

 “Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.”
1 Peter 5:7 MSG

God is careful with you.  Do you believe that?  I can’t say that I always do.  His careful looks very different than mine.  Yet, even in the midst of all the ways I wished His careful looked different than mine it still remains true: He is careful with me.  It’s hard to see sometimes in the middle of hard spots but then I look back and I see how well He has cared for me so many times.  I see how He used so many hard spots before to care for me so well.  So then I can believe that he is being careful with me even here.  Then, I see it really does take both good and hard, pits and peaks, blessing and suffering for God to be careful with me.  In remembering that and in knowing it’s truth we can live carefree.  It’s in trusting Him to do what He has always done so well that we can enjoy the ride.  Each year is a ride full of both ups and downs.  Oh what joy to live carefree whichever direction it takes you because you know He is taking you and He is most careful with you.