I Am Not Enough ... and Neither Are You
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This was my friend Mike Q Daniel’s quote on Facebook this past week. I had to share it.
I love Linda’s comment, “So glad this isn’t telling me I am enough! I am not, but He is!”
I had to say AMEN.
We both hate the lie that is being propagated that “You are enough.” Nobody seemed to be saying the truth. But then I remembered the book I saw at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.*
Wow. Someone is saying it. And I think the following story will illustrate this Truth. It’s from my poet-friend Penny and my soon-to-be-published book of meditations titled Glory in Disguise:Seeing God in Our Every Day.
Children Incognito
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!
For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
Matthew 19:16 NLT
One day, my husband John came home from work and said, “I’m going to Shanghai next week for work.”
“Where?” I was shocked. “Shanghai.” He repeated.
Neither John nor I have ever been world travelers. So the idea of his going alone to Shanghai was terrifying to both of us.
As he was preparing to go, our small fellowship group prayed over him. They encouraged John to trust the Lord in this test of faith.
I took John to the Dayton airport very early the morning of his departure. After he checked his bags, I cried, kissed him good-by, and prayed. John slowly made his way in the serpentine line to get scanned. Then he would be out of sight and on to the gate.
There he was – my tall, kind, gentle soul of a husband. I knew he was scared, and I was scared for him. All of a sudden, as clear as a bell, the still small Voice of the Spirit entered my consciousness:
“John is just a little child, locked up in an adult body, trying to live an adult life in an adult world.”
What did that mean? I would soon find out.
When I walked out of the airport to the car, the early morning pitch-blackness had been transformed into the most beautiful, crystal-clear spring morning. I just couldn’t go back home on the interstate on a morning like this. So I went north on country roads, not quite knowing where I’d end up.
I soon found myself in the parking lot of one of my favorite places: Charleston Falls Nature Preserve. Normally, I don’t go to remote places by myself, but I sensed the Voice beckoning me on.
As I walked down the path, I thought of our newlywed daughter saying goodbye to her husband in his Air Force camouflage. He had just a few days earlier been deployed to Africa. I felt her distress as she said good-bye for what would be several months.
Again, the Voice,
“Beth and Nate are both little children, locked up in adult bodies, trying to live adult lives in an adult world”.
I walked on. I thought of our young adult son just a few years earlier, diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 20. He was scared but trusting God.
“Jeremy is just a little child, locked up in an adult body, trying to live an adult life in an adult world.”
With each new memory, the Voice ... until the truth began to dawn upon me:
“We are ALL little children, locked up in adult bodies, trying to live adult lives in an adult world. And the only way we can do that is to live as little children with our Abba Father God.”
Then I remembered Jesus, the Perfect Child of His Father. He lived as a Child in an adult world. And the Voice revealed how.
Jesus lived secure in His Father’s love.
For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.
John 5:20 NASB
Jesus lived in dependence upon His Father.
Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees His Father doing.” John 5:19 NASB
Jesus lived with His Father in trust & vulnerability.
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One who is able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things suffered. Hebrews 5:7 NASB
This is good news for those of us who are God’s children. Jesus our Savior, who is the Perfect Child of the Father, lives in you and me by His Spirit. He lives His Child-life through us as we depend on Him. We don’t have to have it all together. We can be vulnerable with our Father God. We can trust Him to enable us, through the indwelling Spirit of His Son, to live an adult life in an adult world.
So, beloved siblings in the family of God, fellow “children incognito,” do you ever feel scared and needy and helpless? Know you are loved and cared for by your Father every day of your life. Trust Him. He cares for you.
You are from God, little children, and ... greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 NASB
Dependent on God
As a child I felt secure
Safe in my mother’s arms.
No worries about the future
No reason to be alarmed.
Trusting both my parents
To take good care of me.
They were strong and wise enough
To handle what would be.
Now I’m grown and realize
Human wisdom’s not enough.
I’m still dependent and need support
When things in life get tough.
But the Holy Spirit is in me
Reminding me He’s there.
And Jesus is right beside me
Whenever I despair.
The Father bends a listening ear
To hear my every prayer.
They surround me and astound me
With their gentle loving care.
Penny Mandeville
Prayer
Dear Father God, Thank You for welcoming me into Your family. Thank you that I can live as a “child incognito,” needy, yet dependent on You in this adult-sized world. It is so beyond me, and often scares me to death. But I chose to trust You today to live in and through me by Your Spirit. In Jesus, Your Son’s Name. Amen.
Reflections
1. Journal the times this week when you have felt helpless, scared, anxious, alone. Come needy and dependent to your loving Father God, as a “child incognito.”
2. Journal your prayers and then listen for His Voice who calls you, His beloved.
* Disclaimer: I am not endorsing this book. I haven’t yet read it. The title was what caught my attention.
Define yourself as one radically loved by God.
Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child
