We had some new light fixtures installed recently. They are really fabulous. I wanted them. I got them. And now I’ve moved on and am fixated on my next upgrade… New stone in the entryway? New accent tables?
This summer has seen trips to Charleston and Chicago. We’re going to Disney World this fall. But I am regularly tossing out other getaway ideas to my husband. I Google other destinations that might be doable in the next six months…
Home upgrades and tropical getaways. Light, aspirational thoughts often occupy my mind. These were the thoughts drifting through recently as I listened to the radio in my car.
The station reported the capture of around 3,000 people by ISIS—men, women and children who had been fleeing violence in Iraq.
Just seconds before, I’d been daydreaming about overpriced light fixtures with lots of “visual impact.” Now, this horrific, heart-sinking news. The glaring contrast immediately laid me low, and I heard the Spirit whisper:
You have enough.
You have enough, Sarah.
Typing it out, it doesn’t look that revelatory. But the way it hit me, it struck my heart and kind of shook me from my upper middle class American stupor.
Sometimes we need a wake-up call that sharply shows us how good we’ve got it. So often, my life’s echo is “me, me, me” and “more, more, more.” Human nature gravitates toward greed over gratitude. It’s so much easier to attain things rather than contentment.
When we’re so comfortable and so driven by fulfilling our non-essential desires, we can get really out of touch with our world and the experiences of our fellow man. Comfort can be a beautiful prison.
We think we need more when, in reality, we have enough.
This understanding of “enough”—this threshold of contentment—goes beyond home decor and vacations. It also applies to deeper, less superficial desires:
I want to live out my calling.
I want to have another baby.
Even in these things, God is telling me, “You have enough.” I have my daily bread. I am sustained.
“My grace is sufficient for you.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
This sentiment doesn’t tell me to settle or stop seeking. Just because you’re content and grateful for what you have doesn’t mean you stop praying, hoping and dreaming about what you don’t. It doesn’t mean we stop trying to better ourselves or attain new experiences.
It’s more of a gentle, but firm, reminder that I do have enough to be content in my present circumstances. Right now. In this moment. With the people in my life. In my job. In this house with this less-than-perfect flooring and nicked side tables.
And for our brothers and sisters, captives in the Middle East, I pray that God will be enough for them—providing sufficient wisdom and strength for each breath.
I encourage you to remind yourself “I have enough” the next time you’re confronted with envy, discontentment, excessive striving or spending.
It will allow you to relax.
It will almost instantly reorder your thinking, creating more space for what really matters.
And, most importantly, it will reorient you toward greater consideration and compassion for others—and less preoccupation with self.
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:12 & 13
Sarah Weller 